I have a 2006 sportster 2000 with supercharged 215HP Vtec engines. Doing my spring service found oil in one engine to be 'milky'. Changed Oil and filter then went for a test run. The oil was still 'milky'. One other observation was that my coolant reservoir level was down. What could cause coolant or water to get into my engine oil.
water or coolant in engine oil
- Thread starter Oldboater
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Ok,, if it is the coolant that is getting into the oil, then you may have a head gasket and or oil cooler issue. I have seen a few cooler issues where the O-rings have failed and allow water into the oil.
If it is raw-water (raw water is the water you ride on), then you likely have a bad intercooler and it is allowing raw water into the intake of the engine.
If it is raw-water (raw water is the water you ride on), then you likely have a bad intercooler and it is allowing raw water into the intake of the engine.
Yes, it will run if the IC is bad.
The easier test would be to pull the hoses of the IC and get a good look into it. You will be able to tell if it is bad as it will have water or gunk in the air chambers.
The other test, pull the oil cooler and seal it and test it for pressure. I would think you could also do a pressure test on the coolant tank to see if it holds pressure. You may have to start it for an accurate test if you do the coolant tank test. This would be wise to do at the ramp as you will not be able to run it long enough for a good test. And no, running on a garden hose will not do it as you need more than the couple of minutes max you can run it on a hose. (The carbon seal will have no cooling to it on the garden hose).
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It will take more than one oil change to get the water out. It could be a blown head gasket.
Coastiejoe, The o-rings on the oil cooler only prevent oil from leaking externally. They do not provide a barrier between the oil circuit and the coolant circuit. I've only seen oil coolers fail internally and when they do, they leak oil into the cooling system due to the oil pressure being much higher, not the other way around.
Also, the 215 intercooler is inside the intake manifold, not external. The max run time on the hose is actually 5 minutes as per the shop manual.
Chester
Coastiejoe, The o-rings on the oil cooler only prevent oil from leaking externally. They do not provide a barrier between the oil circuit and the coolant circuit. I've only seen oil coolers fail internally and when they do, they leak oil into the cooling system due to the oil pressure being much higher, not the other way around.
Also, the 215 intercooler is inside the intake manifold, not external. The max run time on the hose is actually 5 minutes as per the shop manual.
Chester
Totally forgot the 215 was internal.
And yes, the manual says 5 minutes. However, anything over a minute-ish serves no purpose. You don't cool the engine or the CS. Further, anytime the CS runs dry it wears at a faster rate than when sitting in water.
As far as the O-ring issue, I can't argue against you in that I have not had one in my hand as of yet. I read what I thought was a very good article about the cooler failing and letting water into the oil. It also said that if the o-ring was to fail, it could allow water to enter. That said, I will do more digging to better understand the system.
Thanks..
And yes, the manual says 5 minutes. However, anything over a minute-ish serves no purpose. You don't cool the engine or the CS. Further, anytime the CS runs dry it wears at a faster rate than when sitting in water.
As far as the O-ring issue, I can't argue against you in that I have not had one in my hand as of yet. I read what I thought was a very good article about the cooler failing and letting water into the oil. It also said that if the o-ring was to fail, it could allow water to enter. That said, I will do more digging to better understand the system.
Thanks..
Chester, I have the 1503 4-TEC supercharged intercooled engine and the intercooler is on the outside of the engine at the front just to the left of centre. I sure hope it is not a blown gasket.
Coastiejoe, I will remove the hoses and see if I can see anything inside. Do I have to remove it to examine the air chambers?
Thankyou both for taking the time to advise me.
Coastiejoe, I will remove the hoses and see if I can see anything inside. Do I have to remove it to examine the air chambers?
Thankyou both for taking the time to advise me.
Yours must be aftermarket as the stock 215 engine has the intercooler inside the intake manifold like the one pictured. Please post a picture of yours. Also, doing just one oil change will not remove all thew water. I just finished working on a customers RXT that I had to do 4 oil changes to get the water out.
I understand what you're saying although, those carbon seals are really durable. Sometimes I'll run the engine 30 seconds or so without the hose. I work on these on a daily basis as a mobile PWC mechanic and when I do oil changes, I run it for 5 minutes. If I have to do several to remove water from the oil, I run it for 2 - 3 minutes on the second, third, and if needed, forth oil change.
The oil cooler o-rings go between the engine block and the cooler to allow the oil to go through without leaking into the hull. It still may be possible that the cooler is leaking when the engine is turned off, as the oil pressure is at 0 PSI while the cooling system pressure is still at 13 PSI. However, when the engine is running, the oil pressure is at 58 - 72 PSI while the coolant remains at 13 PSI.
Chester
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Chester, my apologies, your picture tells it all. My engines are standard and the bulk of the intercooler is in the manifold. The manual does not show the complete thing and I have never removed it. Is it fairly straight forward to remove and examine/replace?
XP 787, my boat is used in fresh water only.
Hfgreg, my mistake I have the standard intercooler as per Chester’s photograph
XP 787, my boat is used in fresh water only.
Hfgreg, my mistake I have the standard intercooler as per Chester’s photograph
Coastiejoe and Chester, I have examined my coolant and there is no visible trace of oil so I am assuming the integrity of the closed loop system has not been breached.
I removed the pipes to the intercooler and pulled the intercooler from the manifold. Unfortunately, I could only get it halfway. It seems like the centre ring is catching on the exit of the manifold. However, I can see that 3 tubes are distorted and there is a lot of ‘gunk’ between the tubes. Interestingly, the distorted tubes are the bottom 3 tubes. I am afraid the distrortion may have been caused by ice expansion when it thawed this spring.
While I may have found the source of the water, the intercooler is stuck halfway in the manifold.
If you have had experience removing an intercooler I would welcome any suggestions. As you say Chester:
“A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner”
I removed the pipes to the intercooler and pulled the intercooler from the manifold. Unfortunately, I could only get it halfway. It seems like the centre ring is catching on the exit of the manifold. However, I can see that 3 tubes are distorted and there is a lot of ‘gunk’ between the tubes. Interestingly, the distorted tubes are the bottom 3 tubes. I am afraid the distrortion may have been caused by ice expansion when it thawed this spring.
While I may have found the source of the water, the intercooler is stuck halfway in the manifold.
If you have had experience removing an intercooler I would welcome any suggestions. As you say Chester:
“A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner”
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