Flushing water in oil with priming tool?

smassey22180

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Apr 15, 2013
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I made a mistake installing my new intake manifold and I got water in my oil. Can I use a GM oil pump priming tool to flush most of it out? I plan to do an oil and filter change, run the priming tool for a while and then repeat until it looks clean. I still have the intake off so I get a good view. Normally I would just run the engine on muffs however this is frowned upon in our community. It would take 15+ minutes to get heat to the oil and the neighbors would not like the noise. I plan to use a heat gun on the pan overnight to heat the oil. This worked well to get the bad oil mix to syphon out.

Auto zone has the tool as part of their loner program. http://www.autozone.com/loan-a-tools/oil-pump-primer/oem-gm-v6-v8-oil-pump-primer/534529_0_0/

thanks
 

Maclin

Admiral
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May 27, 2007
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I would want to drain it first with any method. Just thinking that mixing it all up in the oil passages would not be good for oil pressure once it started. Heating and draining, then new oil, then running it then draining, new oil....You will not get a good cleanout without running the engine at temp for a while in between oil/filter changes in my opinion.
 
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jeffnick

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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May 24, 2004
Messages
695
An oil change would be the best way. The water will be the first to come out. I'm thinking pulling the distributor and priming water into the oil passages would do way more harm than good?
 

jerryjerry05

Supreme Mariner
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May 7, 2008
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Get an oil sucker and suck it out through the dip stick hole.
Or crawl underneath and undo the drain.
That tool is the "very BEST way" to get water through the motor.
It will work best if you remove most of the oil and then remove the filter and use the tool after the filters off.

Get a bunch of rags under the oil filter coupler.
 

Maclin

Admiral
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I meant to ask if the engine had been run with the water in the oil already. If not then drain it, and that can be many methods. In your case I would suck it out then remove the oil pan plug if possible, hit it both ways. Sucking it out first will make for a much smaller mess when the oil pan plug is removed. If the engine had already been run with the water in the oil then drain/change oil then do the primer method as jerryjerry outlines. Ultimately you will need to get the engine up to operating temp for a while and change oil a couple more times in my estimation to be in the clear.
 

smassey22180

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Apr 15, 2013
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210
Thanks for the responses. The oil/water has been drained out already. I just want to flush the remaining messy oil residue out now. Sorry for the confusion. The engine ran for a couple minutes with the water in it. A leak at the new intake manifold gasket caused the water to get in. I am just going to use the tool to get it as clean as possible before I run it again. I then will do an oil/filter change and take it to the lake. Run it an hour and change for a final time.

thanks
 

sean.deangelis

Seaman Apprentice
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Jan 25, 2013
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I'm not an expert but let me share something here: I had a similar issue once. I essentially did what you are planning on doing after it happened. However, after I refilled the engine oil to spec with new filter I ran the engine briefly and the oil was still a bit milky. If I remember correctly I had to sacrifice 2 oil filters and 2 oil changes worth of oil before it looked good after each run.
 

smassey22180

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Apr 15, 2013
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I'm not an expert but let me share something here: I had a similar issue once. I essentially did what you are planning on doing after it happened. However, after I refilled the engine oil to spec with new filter I ran the engine briefly and the oil was still a bit milky. If I remember correctly I had to sacrifice 2 oil filters and 2 oil changes worth of oil before it looked good after each run.

The priming tool did not flush out nearly as much as I would have expected. Lack of pressure and heat limit it's effectiveness. I am on my 2nd set of oil/filter now. I plan to run it an hour or so at the lake an do a final change.

Removing the dipstick tube got the most out. There is a cup or so left in the bottom of the pan after you suck it out. This is not a problem for an normal oil change but with water in the oil the worst of it is at the bottom.
 

GA_Boater

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May 24, 2011
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The oil pump pick-up doesn't sit low enough in the pan to get do a good clean out.

Can you remove the drain plug in the oil pan for a one-time drain to get more water out? I know some boats aren't designed for ease of motor maintenance.
 

Bondo

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Staff member
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Apr 17, 2002
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Ayuh,..... An hour at Temp, at cruisin' speeds, 'n that bit of water will steam away,....
 

bruceb58

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Mar 5, 2006
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30,454
Can you remove the drain plug in the oil pan for a one-time drain to get more water out? I know some boats aren't designed for ease of motor maintenance.
On Volvos, the dipstick connects to the drain plug hole so if you use the hose fitting at the top of the dipstick tube, you should get most everything out.

Some people that have Volvos make the mistake of putting a tube down the dipstick tube instead of using the hose fitting at the top...big mistake.
 
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