The water gets in

A lady with a boat. A 32 tollycraft. Just afew slips from me asked me to help her change the oil in her twin crusader gas engines.

I proceded to pump 4 gallons of water out of her port engine. The bilge was full of oil and only water in the motor.

How did the water get in you ask. Good question. I pondered it for a week.

It didn't go down the carborator. It has the flame arrestors on the top I poured water on them to look for seapage or anything.
Nothing.

It had to go into the top of the engine.
I thought about head gaskets but the water in the motor was fresh. No antifreeze.

Any one care to guess what I finally found.

Sd

Siphon in from the exhaust?

I've never seen how these engines are set up in boat but I'm going to assume they have coolant in the engine block, head, and exhaust manifold(s) and a raw water heat exchanger fed by a raw water pump of some sort.

Was there some way fresh water-- rain, boat's supply?---could fill up the exhaust manifold(s) thus get into the cylinders and seep down into the sump? Broken fresh water hose or sink drain hose or something?

Or is the surface water in your marina fresh from runoff and Keith's scenario of water siphoning in through the exhaust is the answer?

Or did fresh water somehow get down the oil dipstick tube? Or into the crankcase breather?

Quite the mystery.

It didn't come into the exhaust it was fresh water.

Marin I thought of those also. but no.

By the way the boat hadn't been run since last summer and the oil in the bilge was emulcified looked like chocolat milk.

I don't think anyone can get this one I should have just told what was going on.

I will wait a bit to see if anyone gets close.

Sd

skipperdude said:

It didn't come into the exhaust it was fresh water.

Marin I thought of those also. but no.

By the way the boat hadn't been run since last summer and the oil in the bilge was emulcified looked like chocolat milk.

I don't think anyone can get this one I should have just told what was going on.

I will wait a bit to see if anyone gets close.

Sd

Click to expand...

Is that engine coolant plumbed to the hot water heater?

Had the fuel tank been filled with fresh water by mistake?

Negetive on both.

I got to thinking about it. There is only one way for water to get into the engine. If all the gaskets are good and in place.

It has to go down thru the top.

I got to poking around on the valve covers.

that is when I figured it out.

there was a water leak a rain leak actually.

It was on the fly bridge. The rain found it's way down to the engine room and ran along the top of the valve cover I pushed on a rust spot and voila a hole the size of my finger under the rust. How many years the water had drained onto the valve cover to eventually rust through and down into the oil pan.

Sorry I couldn't resists.

Leaving on a fishing trip after work the answer would have had to wait till monday.

It is truly amasing how water can travel inside a boat .

Once The water gets in

SD