4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

[Grizzy1967]

Hello,
I have a 4.3 mercusier that i have owned since march of this year. Boat ran great all summer long, like a sewing machine. i went to winterize it sunday and unscrewed the oil flter and grayish-tanish (depending on how the sunlight hit it) came out. drained the oil out of the pan and it was also the same color. took the oil filler neck off of the valve cover and had some "crisco" like material in it. engine does not run hot. one thing i did notice, is that the starboard side manifold gets warmer than the other. i did a compression check on it and it was between 120-132 psi on all cylinders.
one spark plug was alot cleaner than the rest it was the No 1 cylinder.
i have heard of putting some diesel fuel in the oil and a couple of oil changes later to clear up the water.

Any thoughts?
thanks in advance
Ben

 

[achris]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

You can try cleaning the engine with diesel, then putting new oil in, but I would suspect a cracked engine block. You bought it in March, just after winter... Maybe the PO found out he (or someone else) hadn't winterised it properly and was looking to unload the boat as quickly as possible.

That's my thoughts...

 

[Grizzy1967]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

Forgot to mention. The level on the dipstick doesn't rise.

 

[achris]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

Forgot to mention. The level on the dipstick doesn't rise.

Doesn't need much water to make the oil milky. Pressure test the engine block/heads....

 

[Bondo]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

Hello,
I have a 4.3 mercusier that i have owned since march of this year. Boat ran great all summer long, like a sewing machine. i went to winterize it sunday and unscrewed the oil flter and grayish-tanish (depending on how the sunlight hit it) came out. drained the oil out of the pan and it was also the same color. took the oil filler neck off of the valve cover and had some "crisco" like material in it. engine does not run hot. one thing i did notice, is that the starboard side manifold gets warmer than the other. i did a compression check on it and it was between 120-132 psi on all cylinders.
one spark plug was alot cleaner than the rest it was the No 1 cylinder.
i have heard of putting some diesel fuel in the oil and a couple of oil changes later to clear up the water.

Any thoughts?
thanks in advance
Ben

Ayuh,.... How Much oil/ sludge did ya remove,..??

Fresh oil is a better flush than diesel fuel, less apt to ruin anything too,...

 

[thumpar]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

I would pressure test the cooling side. It could be a few things. The 4.3l has been know to blow intake manifold gaskets.

 

[Grizzy1967]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

Thank y'all. I'm sure I can use the search function but y'all wouldn't happen to know a link or something to a thread about checking the coolant system of a 4.3 lx gen+? Like which hose to plug and whatnot.

 

[bonzoscott]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

You should check the oil before each trip. If you didn't and this is the first time oil inspection, it could be condensation. The color doesn't sound right though. The fact that the level didn't rise is a good sign. I would change the oil and run the beJeezus out of it, then inspect the oil. If you had a serious leak and ran all season (depends on hours) the oil level would have raised.

 

[Grizzy1967]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

Ayuh,.... How Much oil/ sludge did ya remove,..??

Fresh oil is a better flush than diesel fuel, less apt to ruin anything too,...

I didnt take a sample and let it settle or anything like that. So I couldn't really answer that question the oil/water that I did get out of it I would rub in my finger tip and it would somewhat bead up.

 

[achris]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

Thank y'all. I'm sure I can use the search function but y'all wouldn't happen to know a link or something to a thread about checking the coolant system of a 4.3 lx gen+? Like which hose to plug and whatnot.

What is the engine serial number? From that we can guide you. Without it, only guessing...

 

[Grizzy1967]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

You should check the oil before each trip. If you didn't and this is the first time oil inspection, it could be condensation. The color doesn't sound right though. The fact that the level didn't rise is a good sign. I would change the oil and run the beJeezus out of it, then inspect the oil. If you had a serious leak and ran all season (depends on hours) the oil level would have raised.

I did check the oil level every outing and it never came up or down on the dipstick for that matter. In fact it never even looked milky on the dipstick. Just when I drained it is when I noticed it.

 

[Grizzy1967]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

What's y'all's thoughts on the "crisco" material in the valve cover and the starboard side exhaust manifold being warmer to touch than the other side?

 

[Grizzy1967]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

What is the engine serial number? From that we can guide you. Without it, only guessing...

Engine serial #0f822089
Thanks

 

[stonyloam]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

one spark plug was alot cleaner than the rest it was the No 1 cylinder.

How clean was the plug? Was the ceramic tan or snow white? The plug should normally be tan or brown, but if you are getting some water into the cylinder it will be "steam cleaned" white. If it is tan and just seems "cleaner" than the others it should be OK.

 

[Grizzy1967]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

How clean was the plug? Was the ceramic tan or snow white? The plug should normally be tan or brown, but if you are getting some water into the cylinder it will be "steam cleaned" white. If it is tan and just seems "cleaner" than the others it should be OK.

It was tan. The others were blackened and had a little bit of oil deposits on them.

 

[stonyloam]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

Tan is good!

 

[achris]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

Thank y'all. I'm sure I can use the search function but y'all wouldn't happen to know a link or something to a thread about checking the coolant system of a 4.3 lx gen+? Like which hose to plug and whatnot.

You have a hose coming from behind the engine. Disconnect that hose and use it as your pressurising end. You will also have a hose going to the bottom of each exhaust manifold from the thermostat housing. Remove those hoses (2) from each of the manifolds and plug them. You're now ready to pressure test...

Chris.......

 

[Grizzy1967]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

Thanks Chris
Pressure to about 15psi? And how long should it hold it?

 

[achris]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

Thanks Chris
Pressure to about 15psi? And how long should it hold it?

Theoretically? Forever... Realistically, just hold it for about 30 minutes.... If it's leaking, you'll hear it!

 

[stonyloam]

Re: 4.3 mercruiser water in oil! Am i paranoid?

What's y'all's thoughts on the "crisco" material in the valve cover and the starboard side exhaust manifold being warmer to touch than the other side?

Probably just a little condensation mixing with some oil in the valve cover, forms a thick emulsion. Just wipe it off.