Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Water in Oil Question ?

I started a 235 that had been sitting for years, checked the oil and coolant before starting it up, motor ran good and was amazinley quiet. About a week after i changed the oil and coolant that had been in it for years I noticed water in the oil ? How can i pinpoint the leak ?

How much water?

Were you running it for that week, and noticed water, or did you check it and find water after it sat for a week?

When you ran it the first time, did you get the oil hot?

If it's just a little bit of water, I would try one of the block sealers, or some Bars Leaks.

I'm sure someone can tell you an easier way to pinpoint it, but all I can think of at the moment is to take the head off and check the gasket and surface there (maybe a bad gasket or surface).

If those are good I would try to pressure test the head, and then the block.

Good luck, I hope the fix is cheap and easy.

Thanks for the help ! The motor ran great, was smooth and quiet the first time we ran it. A week later the pan had a good amount of water in it, drained it, replaced the oil started it and noticed white foam around the push rods and valves where very loud. stoped motor and right now just trying to figure where to start to find leak ?

gmguy,

Which 235 do you have? The low pressure 235s (pre 1953 power glide) had a tube that ran through the water jacket to deliver oil to the rocker arms. These sometimes rust through and cause the milkshake look around the rocker arms. Before tearing the engine apart one could :

1) run a compression test
2) run a pressure test of the cooling system with a radiator pressure tester. Take off the push rod side cover to look for leaks.
3) run a leakdown test on each cylinder. Follow the instructions for your leakdown tester if you have one. Hotrod Lincoln (from the Stovebolters' BB) offers these instructions for a simple leakdown test: "Try doing a cylinder leakdown test by putting compressed air into the cylinder through the spark plug hole with the piston at the top of the compression stroke. The crankshaft is locked by putting the truck [or carr] into high gear and setting the parking brake or using wheel chocks. Listen for piston ring leakage at the oil fill cap, or valve problems at the carburetor or tailpipe. Bubbles in the radiator would indicate a cracked head or a head gasket leak into the cooling system."