Volvo penta AD 41 marine Engines: water in oil!

The engine has about 6k hrs been running well. Just found mayonnaise like gunk on oil cap when adding oil. Any ideas re: how it's getting in there, how to proceed much appreciated. No oil on dipstick ( yet?).
Thanks

Re: Volvo penta AD 41 marine Engines: water in oil!

If only in the valve covers, it could be condensation. Do you do a lot of short runs where the engine doesn't really get to a good running temp for a while?

Is the oil in the crankcase at all milky? Does the antifreeze level drop at all on your engine?

The oil cooler would be my first thought if it's sea water leaking into the engine.

Re: Volvo penta AD 41 marine Engines: water in oil!

Don S said:

If only in the valve covers, it could be condensation. Do you do a lot of short runs where the engine doesn't really get to a good running temp for a while?

Is the oil in the crankcase at all milky? Does the antifreeze level drop at all on your engine?

The oil cooler would be my first thought if it's sea water leaking into the engine.

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Don, Many thanks. I'm holding my breath that it's condensation. The last two times I operated it, was for about an hour once and about 10 minutes the last time. I don't see any water at all in the oil. I took out for the oil change(Pretty solid black) and I don't think I'm "making oil" as dipstick level is no higher. I'll take all valve covers off tomorrow evening and see how much gunk there is and continue holding my breath.
Do you recommend taking the oil cooler off and servicing? Thanks again,

Jeordie

Re: Volvo penta AD 41 marine Engines: water in oil!

If you had an oil cooler problem, you would have water in your oil as well.
Make sure the breather in the valve cover is clear, and the hose going to the air cleaner is open. What model AD41 do you have? A,B,D,L-A, P-A,P-B ?

Re: Volvo penta AD 41 marine Engines: water in oil!

Don S said:

If you had an oil cooler problem, you would have water in your oil as well.
Make sure the breather in the valve cover is clear, and the hose going to the air cleaner is open. What model AD41 do you have? A,B,D,L-A, P-A,P-B ?

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Don't know the model, is there a designation on the engine itself? The manual is on the boat and I'll look in it tonight when I pull the valve covers and do as you've suggested. I just looked at the oil I drained Sunday (It's in clear plastic containers) and no sign of water at the bottom of the containers and the oil is uniformly black. Whew!

On a separate subject, I bought a spare engine with this boat (which has twins) and am thinking of tearing it down and rebuilding it. It's in my garage. I think I'll need an engine stand to do it, yes? Any advice for me? This will be the first time I've ever done something like this.

Thanks,
Jeordie

Re: Volvo penta AD 41 marine Engines: water in oil!

Well the engines are both AD 41 B