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Water and Oil mixed!

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walldiver7

New member
4.3 LX Mercuiser

First run today from winter storage:

Engine was properly drained before put into storage for winter.

The event:
Idle was a little rough leaving the No Wake zone and as throttle was applied it was very sluggish on take off ... coming finally to plane.

Running across our lake the boat speed was slowing gradually, finally coming out of plane.

I turned the engine off and pulled to engine cover.
A gray mixture of oil and water was all over the top of the engine pouring off into the bilge area. Pulled dipstick and found the same gray oil/water mixture on the stick. (Checked all fluids before leaving the house and everything was fine.)

After examination it appears that the valve cover vent hoses were blowing the oil/water mixture all over and into the fire-arrestor breather and onto the top of the engine.
I haven't pulled the valve covers yet, but figure their full of the water/oil mix.....
With the engine being properly drained before storage (I drained it last fall and had to put the plugs in it before I headed to the lake today), WHAT has happened here ?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Intake gasket blown? Did water, somehow, not drain from the block before storage last fall? What is your call on this?
Thanks for the help!
 
With the engine being properly drained before storage (I drained it last fall and had to put the plugs in it before I headed to the lake today), WHAT has happened here ?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Ayuh,... That's the Problem,... It Wasn't....
I dare say you probably have a Cracked Block...
 
I was afraid of that.

All righty then... What is the best solution.... drop in a new crate engine? Who sells marine crate engines? Thanks for the help!
 
New manifold and risers too? This engine only had 200 hours on it. I would think cleaning them up and reusing them would be the way to go.... but I'll admit, I'm not the most experienced mechanic out here. Thanks for your comment!
 
some places have the mani's and risers and all the gaskets in one kit 500 bucks or so. Reuse what you can alt. starter.

When you pull the intake take a look in the valley post if thats where it cracked please.
 
Exhaust manifolds did not freeze. But now that I'm pulling the engine, I'll probably be looking for ways to lighten this boat..... and maybe I'll look into a pair of alum. manis ?? Might as well make the project entertaining, right?

Yep.... I did probe the drain holes after removing the plugs because I do know that trash can block those little jewels. I did see water run from all drain plugs. Yes, I'm still puzzled on how water was trapped since I'm the one that has drained and maintained this 99 boat since it was bought off the showroom floor.

When I do pull the intake m., I will take a look at the valley and report back.
Thanks for all the comments.
 
I'm helping a friend out who had the same thing happen to his motor with the milky water/oil mix come out the breathers. We've torn it down and didn't see any sign of bad intake or head gaskets. Visually we don't see any cracks in the heads or cylinders. Most likely it's a crack in the block where we can't see it. Going to have it all checked out, but I was wondering what ended up happening with your motor? thanks
 
too bad you didn't pressure test it before the tear down... you're spelunking now....

might want to start a new thread with year make and model of drive/eng
 
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