Mercruiser 228 milky oil

[wahlejim]

Due to having a baby over the winter, I just finally got around to getting the boat in the water. Water level is low on the lake that I live on so I had to run the engine above trim limit to get away from the boat launch, about 100 yards.

After checking the oil today, I noticed milky oil on the dipstick. Got the oil pump out and pumped. All milky oil to the last drop.

What I have done since last fall when it was in the water:

1) I noticed the bilge pump was kicking on on my last fishing trip, highly unusual. Inspected and found a leak at the manifold gasket. This spring I took off manifold, found a cracked gasket, and replaced.

2) Bellows were due for a replace, changed those out, except for exhaust bellows, I have a boot.

3) proper winterization. Pulled all six plugs and drained manifolds, risers, engine block

One other note, while I was pumping the milky oil, I checked spark plugs. Water came out of port side cylinders, starboard was ok.

My initial thought is port side riser is allowing water back into cylinders.

Any other thoughts or suggestions to check?

 

[wahlejim]

One other note, I noticed I didn't tighter the two hose clamps that attach the riser to the rubber boot for the exhaust. Would this have anything to do with it?

 

[hemi rt]

Sounds like you have a blown head gasket, which motor is it, in some cases (V8) the intake gasket may be blown - an easier fix.

 

[wahlejim]

305 v8, gm

 

[Scott Danforth]

If you found a cracked riser gasket, that would do it. Pressure test the cooling system to find the source.

You did run a dead flat file across the mating surfaces of the manifolds and risers before putting new OEM gaskets on, correct? Non OEM gaskets leak, and if the surfaces are not true, than all gaskets leak

Head gasket is unlikely. A compression test will confirm or eliminate head gasket.

 

[wahlejim]

Scott, I did not use OEM gaskets and did not use a file. Thinking back, after I shut the engine off I did hear air getting sucked into the system around the riser somewhere. I will perform a compression test to eliminate head gasket and cracked block before I continue.

I will use this as a lesson to anyone else out there that just tries to get through the season and wait for winter repairs. The risers and manifolds are in rough shape and I figured I would tackle that issue when the boat was out of the water. I will probably go through and replace manifolds and risers if compression checks out. Lesson learned.

Thanks for your help guys, I will keep you updated.

 

[wahlejim]

Did the compression test last night. All cylinders holding the following:
1-150
2-170
3-155
4-165
5-165
6-160
7-150
8-165

All signs are pointing to the manifold and riser. There was a manufacture date stamped on the manifold and riser, March of 1999. PO told me he replaced them before I bought the boat two years ago. Doesn't count if you replace them with 15 year old used ones, if at all. Time to swap those out. Buying the parts right here on Iboats.

Will keep you posted

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... Sounds like ya found the Problem,....

 

[wahlejim]

Received the risers on Friday, manifolds on Monday. Pulled the old ones, sure enough, rust inside the manifolds. Unpackaged new manifolds only to find gaskets were damaged in shipping. Why gaskets and mounting studs are in the same box with a heavy manifold is beyond me. I could actually see the thread pattern impressed in the chunks of gasket in the box. iBoats has been helpful and I am receiving my new gaskets tomorrow.

 

[wahlejim]

Couldn't wait for the proper gaskets to come, so I went to a marina that had them in stock. Picked them up last Friday morning. Installed new manifolds and risers on both sides.

To get rid of the milky oil in the engine, I pumped out the oil at the beginning of last week and refilled with fresh oil. I let it sit For a couple of days while I was waiting for parts. After the manifolds were installed, I pumped out the oil again. Started out milky and eventually thickened up and turned milky/Gold. Filled again with fresh oil, ran it to temperature, pumped out again, changed oil filter. Refilled with freash oil, brought to temperature, checked the oil, and there was a very slight haze in the oil. I ran it over the weekend and changed the oil again. Now it is golden brown.

I should also note that when I disassembled the manifolds and pulled the plugs, and did the compression test, I blew a lot of water out of the engine. After the compression test was performed, I sprayed some starting fluid in each hole to assist in drying out the water, then I sprayed fogging oil in each to prevent any rusting. I then put old plugs back to cover the holes and protect it. After manifold installation and prior to oil changes, I put new plugs in.

When the engine was running to temp after the first oil change, I inspected for any leaks as I did not want to repeat this process again. I noticed the rubber hose/boot that connects the riser to the exhaust pipe was leaking on the starboard side. With engine running, I tighted the hose clamps and the leak stopped. This must have been knocked loose during installation and lost its seal.

Engine is running like a champ and in good shape now. If anyone has any questions as far as procedure, time (3 hours total on Friday to install/ 1 hour to remove early last week) or anything else, let me know. Otherwise, this issue is fixed and closed!

 

[redmen62]

Nice! I liked reading your whole write up