Ya, EFI, 1997 454Mag Procharged, total rebuild with good parts and ECM programed by Mark Boos. The motor runs really well except for the cold water and oil.......I have bypassed the oil cooler and if I get an oil thermostat do I need to put the oil cooler back in line? I would think if my oil is not getting up to temp then just the oil thermostat connected into the system might do the trick? I am keeping the water pressure relief valve so I don't over pressure the intercooler.......

If you can't get temp with the oil coolers not even hooked up, then oil thermostats won't help.

It's possible that since you are not getting enough water temp, the ecu is not going into closed loop. The engine could be very rich this way, and pistons aren't getting hot because it is so rich. A lot of the heat in the oil is transferred from the pistons

Is your transom extremely sooty? Where is you oil temp sender? Another thing I have seen guys do is feed the exhaust manifolds with water BEFORE the engine. Helps get a little water temp

No oil temp sender, I plan on one tapped into the oil pan plug. Just from the condensation I can see the oil is not getting to temp. There is not excessive soot on transom but a little, plugs were a little rich but they were the same set used since the rebuild, dyno and small tweaks in fuel pressure etc. I will monitor the new plugs.....without major water rerouting it would be hard to feed the exhaust before the engine EMI Thunder exhaust....

Perhaps I am looking at this wrong but to me, there is too much water flowing through the engine and taking too much heat away so the oil is not coming up to temp.....or am I missing something?

Well, before anything I would get a oil temp gauge, otherwise you are just guessing. Milky breathers and what not could be from reversion, leaky riser,intake gasket leak, head gasket leak, crack in the head, etc.

With the way that plug looked, your problem may not even be oil temp related. Water could be getting in somewhere.

I would not attempt to reduce or restrict water flow to the engine in a attempt to solve your issue.

Most blower motors run around 100 degree water temp to help with detonatin. Mocal makes an oil thermostat that bypasses the cooler until you need it. Restricting the water through the motor may just create hot spots in the head, cause detonation which would lift the heads and cause the gaskets to leak.

When I found the "bad" plug I removed the exhaust manifolds, risers and valve covers, everything was in good shape, there was condensation under the valve cover in the form of small dropplets, my engine buider told me this is normal under the conditions we have here and that the water is "burnt" off when the oil reaches temp......the boat has been in covered "semi-heated"conditions for the winter. Problem is not being able to get the oil temp up.

As I posted above, when I found the bad plug I decided to do a compression check before tearing into things to see why #5 plug looked like it did, compression was good and equal across the board, so in my mind, that would dismiss a valve or gasket issue wouldn't it? If there is no compression issue there is no need for a leak down test right?

The thought is that the #5 exhaust valve was open and moisture was allowed into the cylinder.....but this whole problem seems to stem from the fact I can not get my oil hot enough.....if I keep running water temps around 100* I will always have water in the oil problems right?

Without an oil temp gauge it's hard to tell what the problem may be. It's not uncommon for the head gasket to leak between 5 and 7 on the BBC. You may not see this on a compression test but you would with the leak down. These are only suggestions, and or opinions. http://www.motionaero.com/files/Moca...hermostats.pdf

I appreciate the info and suggestions....

As pointed out, if I have already bypassed the oil cooler and still "appear" to have low oil temp (I agree an oil temp sender/gauge is needed) then an oil thermostat will not do much good because all it seems to do is bypass the oil cooler until temp is reached?

It looks like a leakdown test is needed to put to bed any other hidden issues...... BTW I only just found out why #5 and #7 holes can be a problem, they both fire right after each other so lots of heat, did not know that......

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A couple manufacturers make bypasses that let you retain the engine thermostat . Would that not solve your problem if the problem is indeed not enough water temp . Very simple solution .