1990 Scarab Panther
 

Hello There,

I am new to this sight and have found a lot of good information on this web page. I have a scarab panther with twin 454's and my port motor is getting water in the oil. This happened while I was underway, I had a alarm go off for high oil pressure and sure enough checked it and a milky mess. Since then I have pulled the top end of the motor apart. I had the heads pressured checked and resurfaced.(checked out good) A visual inspection of the block did not show and cracks. I put the motor back together using the same intake manifold, exhaust manifold, and risers. Fired the dam thing up today and still getting water in oil. How else can water get in my oil. Just to add the motor runs great. Could it be my intake manifold or risers. I just can't see how water can get in the oil through the risers. Could someone please help me out on this problem so I can get back in the water and not in the engine bay.

Thank You,
Jason

Cracked oil cooler?

I thought that to, but wouldnt't I have oil coming out my exhaust.

Lee:
Probably not that, as the oil pressure is higher than the water pressure in that cooler most of the time. Usually the oil ends-up in the exhaust water.

Sounds like the block may be cracked from improper winterization. I lost a great 327 many years ago. The reason I'm suggesting that is usually the exhaust pressure can keep the water out of the cylinders while it's running.

The intake manifold is unlikely because you'd see it in a minute when you removed it.

The problem happened while I was underway and I have had the boat out numerous times with no water in the oil

Were all the surfaces good on the intake manifold? Did you recently over heat an engine? As you already have water in the oil, maybe you can figure out a way to connect 30 lbs of air to the water system and see what shows up.
Anybody done this? Mobileman? Ed?

Here's my advice from back when I had an inboard Scarab -- DO NOT LET THEM PUT IT BACK IN WITHOUT TELLING YOU WHAT CAUSED IT TO BREAK IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! I dealt with that with my old Scarab. I WISH I had those old motors. The only problem was a leak in the exhaust manifold that leaked back into the piston.

Finally (after the 3rd rebuild) had to junk the block. I was naive then and didn't know the questions to ask. As much as a novice as I was I still was the one that found the leak in the exhaust manifold. the mechanic and i are still friends but he doesn't work on MY stuff.:cool:

Best thing to do is, pull off the intake, reseal it, If its still getting in,, do the manifolds, if still look for a hairline crack in one of the cylinder walls.