Milky oil, can't tell if it's fuel or water

[dghahn]

it is 1052cc, so it must be an MR1, but for the life of me i couldn't find the drain plug. But, after four pump outs and oil and filter replacements with cheap oil it is now showing clear, no milky residue. I also checked each of the injectors, and they are firing and not sticking. I will run it once more tomorrow without water and if the oil looks good i'll take it for a short ride to see if the milky oil returns.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

well sounds like you have it handled

 

[dghahn]

sure enough, after a 15 min. ride the oil looks like chocolate milk. Any ideas on simple things to check before i pull the engine and start tearing it down? I want to thank Cobra Jet and everyone else for the help on this. It's great to know there are others out there that have been there, done that and are willing to share ideas.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

I just wonder if you don't have a blown head gasket or something causing water to get in the oil and that is why they sold the boat. Can you check the hull id number with your local dealer to see if they brought it in for service and were informed of it. I think you need a compression check and a leak down test honestly so you know for sure.

 

[sunbyrned]

Before you dismantle the engine, I would encourage you to look for evidence of water getting into the engine compartment and into the engine from the previous owner. One possible way to see if the water level rose above the air intake is to lift the hatch of the gas tank and see if you can see a waterline around the edges of the compartment higher than the intake. You might also be able to see debris both in that compartment and the engine compartment. Just a thought, because if you can prove water got into the engine from a previous owner, you may be able to return it or have insurance help out. If you dismantle on your own though, that may negate those options. A long shot I guess, but something to consider.

 

[dghahn]

I did a compression check and had between 145-150 psi in each cylinder. No evidence of water in the engine compartment or near the gas tank. Also, the other engine is fine. I may do a leak down test, which would at least tell me if it's a valve or head gasket issue, but there is also a distinct knock when it's running so i may just pull the engine.

The interesting part is looking at the bottles that i put the oil in(attached), the one on the left is from 7 days ago and has totally settled and doesn't show a separation of oil/water, the middle is 3 days ago and the right is 2 days ago. They all started completely milky. All continue to settle more and more each day. I just expected to see a distinct separation of oil and water.


Ultimately i am delaying the inevitable. I just need to start pulling it apart and see what i find. I'll post back with what i find.

 

[Meetball]

those MR1 motors have been discussed on the exhaust header rusting out on cylinder 3 dropping oil into the cylinder. May want to take a look into that. I will see if I can dig up more info.

Found this while digging

https://jetboaters.net/threads/2005-ar230-saga-continues-now-i-have-water-in-the-oil.10555/

 

[dghahn]

Update... i pulled the engine, swapped it with a rebuilt SBT engine. I ran it for about 3 min. on a hose(only started the hose after starting the motor, and shut it off before killing the motor), and the milky oil returned(see attached pic). The only thing left is to verify all hoses match the locations that are on the good starboard engine, and if they match then remove the oil tank and rip it apart to see if there is any signs. as quickly as it infiltrated the oil it makes me think that it has to be something obvious.

 

[Scottintexas]

what exactly came with the new engine, block only or complete? meetball may be on to something in post #27 above with the corrosion of the exhaust header,

 

[dghahn]

it came with the block only, so all other parts were moved from the old engine. I just re-read through the link meetball added and it gives me a few things to try. I'll post an update in the next few days. Thanks.

 

[Meetball]

There is another post that im looking for, its on the exhaust side inside that cooling port fails and dumps into cylinder 3. When i find it ill post it

 

[Meetball]

And boom! Read over this one, with what you are describing sounds alot of what happened to this guy

https://jetboaters.net/threads/water-in-oil.76/

 

[dghahn]

I kept thinking that water in the exhaust wasn't the issue, exhaust is outward pressure, how could water get into the engine. But Meetball nailed it. i took the exhaust manifold off and here is what i found. I didn't see it when i was swapping the engine out because it wasn't on the face of the manifold like the others in the thread, but tucked back a bit. Thanks everyone for the help and support, i would have never found it without you.

 

[Meetball]

I'm glad it was that I believe it's only a 300 dollar part

 

[buckbuck]

You guys have zero-ed in on something that will be noted by all the MR-1 owners to watch for. Thanks for contributing.

 

[dghahn]

Final update. My boat is back in the water. The SBT rebuilt engine now has about an hour on it, still in the break-in phase, but no water in the oil. I still wonder if i had caught it in time would i have been able to get away with just replacing the exhaust manifold, and not the entire engine. The knocking and other sound it was making make me glad that i replaced it. This forum and everyone that contributes are a godsend. I have no doubt that i would stuck on a trailer forever without the help. Thanks.

 

[sunbyrned]

Great! Now don't do what I did and follow the 10 hour service line for line. The service manual states that you add 30 cc's of grease in the bearing casing so that's what I did. Don't do that! That's not part of your rebuild. Ugh!

 

[WREKS]

I kept thinking that water in the exhaust wasn't the issue, exhaust is outward pressure, how could water get into the engine. But Meetball nailed it. i took the exhaust manifold off and here is what i found. I didn't see it when i was swapping the engine out because it wasn't on the face of the manifold like the others in the thread, but tucked back a bit. Thanks everyone for the help and support, i would have never found it without you.
View attachment 98570View attachment 98571

So how did a perforated manifold allow water to get into the oil? Sorry! Please Explain!

 

[WREKS]

It think it may have been mentioned already in one of the threads. On the MR1 engines there is a baffle plate in the oil cooler with some holes in it. If the oil extractor tube can go down through the middle hole, another couple of inches of oil can be extracted when changing oil. One can see the baffle plate in the oil pump disassembly diagram in the service manual. This oil does not come out when draining the oil via the rear drain plug. I found that out the other day after removing the oil cooler once I thought all the oil was drained. There was at least a quart more in the oil cooler. It is probably blocked from draining by the oil pump. Incidentally West Marine has an excellent oil extraction pump.

 

[Tuffkopf]

many of us have mistakenly run the engine with the hose off at the house for a few minutes (we've heard sometimes until the overheat kicks in or even the engine goes into limp mode)

anyways, I would not suggest it as a common practice but in this situation and not more than a minute maybe two just to circulate the new oil, I don't think with previous members experience the chances of damaging the engine are slim,

here is the link about a complete oil drain,

https://jetboaters.net/threads/oil-change-on-mr-1-how-to-perform-a-complete-drain.3805/

I also agree with Pauly, once you get comfortable you've gotten a good amount out you have to run it hot to evaporate the remaining water




.

Can you explain the last part? Are you saying to remove the oil then start the engine? Or change the oil (remove old, replace with new oil) a few times then run the sh*t out of it to get the engine really hot before changing it again?