any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

hotmerc

Seaman
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Aug 13, 2003
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i have a carver santego with 1998 twin 4.3 vortecs. end of season i noticed i had a water intrusion problem somewhere. didnt have the time to do anything then, winterized and addresses the problem a month ago. seems i had no compression on starboard side of engine. okay, blown head gasket or bad head. drained block took off the head and the head gasket was blown out, and the head valves where pretty much shot leading to no compression. i got a rebuilt head and new gasket and intake gaskets and put it all together and it lives on to see another day, mabey... i had a water problem on my other engine once before and had to change the oil about 6 times before all the water was out. the motor i just did still has some water in the oil. is there anyway to "speed up" the water removal process or do i just keep changing till its gone? thanks
 

fat fanny

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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

If your still getting water out of the block you have an intrusion problem somewhere! you need to track it down a,s,a,p or you will most definately incur more issues could be sooner, could be later.
 

havasuboatman

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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

It always takes several times. To speed things up, run the motor until the oil reaches operating temp withe each change (20-30 min) with the oil filler cap off. This helps a little.
Also, change the filter with every change of oil. This helps alot.
 

fat fanny

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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

Wow really misunderstood that one. Sorry! Havasu wouldn't just gettng it up to temp and letting it drain overnight do the trick?
 

cedarjunki

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Messages
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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

i was told to change the oil, put in the water, cruise around and running it up to temp.
change oil, then run again in the water cruising around and most should be steamed out.
im sure everyone has there own method but this is how ive done way too many.
 

cr2k

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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

The water will turn to vapor and with the breather cap off it will vent out a little faster. You know like uncovering a boiling pot. It's pretty much how it's done in the industry.
 

smokeonthewater

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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

yup change it a few times running between changes and then run it... the water will disappear.... if you want it out faster then pull the engine and disassemble.... changing doesn't sound so bad now does it?:)
 

havasuboatman

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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

No, letting it set overnight wont do it. You would have a bunch of emulsified oil trapped it all of the galleys, the oil cooler, oil pump, lifters, pushrods, oil lines and every place oil can pool in the engine.
You also can't just "steam it out", at least not until your oil (from the oil changes) has started to look like oil again, but slightly opaque it collects under the valve covers and rusts them.
You want to get that water out completely. Emulsified oil has really crappy lubricating qualities. Imagine using baby oil as engine oil.
This is the correct way. It's the industry standard. The way a respectable shop would do it if the water got in there from swamping, trailer sinking, or say a bad oil cooler. An internal engine problem I'd go ahead and do a tear down.
 

Black as

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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

I would run a oW oil in it for around 15 minutes along with an engine oil flush with the engine up to full tempature on muffs in the driveway and then drain it along with an new oil filter. Then see what it looks like after that.

If it was a severe case of water in the oil I would crack the engine open and give it a clean down.

Well that was my 2 and half cents worth good luck :)
 

ENSIGN

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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

If your sure you have corrected the intrusion problem just keep changing the oil and filter and run the crap out of it.
 

bigskiohio

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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

last year i ran my on water and did not have engine runnig so i got water in one cylinder i drained changed and and changed it got better but my last oilchange oil was still alittle grey i poured kerosene in it 2weeks ago and will put oil in this week . I will say it will take 4-5 changes to claean out copletely if not then i have a problem but never had a problem till i ran it on muffs without engine running, need to order a new manifold and riser and gasket.
 

ericcarr2000

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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

IF youre sure you got the water intrusion problem taken care of, then youre best bet is to take her out and run her to get her up to temperature, WITH the oil filler hole off till she gets up to temp. Take her in and change the oil again, again, and AGAIN..Otherwise, I agree with smoke, take the motor out and completely disassemble it and clean it.
Changing the oil doesnt sound too bad now does it..;)
 

havasuboatman

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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

IF youre sure you got the water intrusion problem taken care of, then youre best bet is to take her out and run her to get her up to temperature, WITH the oil filler hole off till she gets up to temp. Take her in and change the oil again, again, and AGAIN..Otherwise, I agree with smoke, take the motor out and completely disassemble it and clean it.
Changing the oil doesnt sound too bad now does it..;)

Funny, I thought that's what I said in post #3... ;)
 

hotmerc

Seaman
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Aug 13, 2003
Messages
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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

thanks guys. sorry for the delay in posting. i'm pretty sure i got the intrusion taken care of. i was told replace one quart of oil with kerosine, run to operating temp with filler cap off, then do it again. when it starts to clear up keep changing without the kerosine. might take 2 times with kerosine. also use a thin oil like 5w20. when the waters pretty much gone go back to 25w40. thanks again.
 

ken_23434

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Messages
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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

Why doesn't someone make a water/oil separating filter?

Similar to the fuel/water separating filter.
 

cr2k

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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

I guess he just doesn't get it. :confused:
 

Don S

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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

I've used diesel fuel for years at about 50% oil, 50% diesel. It cleans the milky sludge out of an engine a lot faster than plain oil
2 times with diesel in the oil, and usually 2 times without and it comes out clear and clean.
New filter on each change.
 

Bondo

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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

Why doesn't someone make a water/oil separating filter?

Similar to the fuel/water separating filter.

Ayuh,... An Oil Filter is constructed almost Exactly like a water separating Fuel Filter...
It don't work the same because of the fluid's characteristics..

Your statement leads me to believe, you don't have a Clue as to How water separating fuel filters work either..
I'll give ya a Clue for now,.... It's based on Gravity.....:)
 

ken_23434

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Messages
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Re: any trick to getting water out of engine oil?

Ayuh,... An Oil Filter is constructed almost Exactly like a water separating Fuel Filter...
It don't work the same because of the fluid's characteristics..

Your statement leads me to believe, you don't have a Clue as to How water separating fuel filters work either..
I'll give ya a Clue for now,.... It's based on Gravity.....:)

Correct, I never looked into how the fuel/water ones worked.

I meant to put a smiley in the original post. I was pretty sure if it was that simple, someone much smarter than me would have created one already. :)
 
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