Slight milkshake on dipstick
 

Been running this setup for 5 years now. 540 ci NA motor.. aprox 9.1 comp. Roller motor..Timing locked out @ 34. Digital 6plus MSD box, MSD crank trigger and billet distributor. CMI Etop headers.

Cam: 114 Lobe Separation
Intake: 234 duration 572 peak valve lift @.050
Exhaust: 232 Duration 572 peak valve lift #.050

Crossover with merc pressure dump out the side. Block pressure never goes above 20psi. Hardine marine thermostatic oil filer head. Oil gets up to 220* in about 5-7 minutes from leaving the dock and never moves..

Made some minor adjustments this winter.

Changes
O2 Sensor bungs installed
Pyrometer bungs installed
1.6 ration intake rockers. (Exhaust same 1.5 ratio for past 5 years)
Outdrive gearing changed to 1.5 from 1.25.
Water lines from back 2 intake manifold ports to front 2 ports
Enlarged crossover to thermostat housing bypass line
Moved timing from 34 to 36.. Exhaust gas temps seemed to lower a bit with this change.

Motor was winterized the same way this year as all years past. Block fully drained. All water hoses including exhaust removed. Cooler water lines both removed. Antifreeze poured straight into block and into oil cooler. Motor was compression tested and leakdown tested last Oct (as done every year at the end). Still great numbers. Just about the same from year to year.

Got about 9 hours on the motor this spring so far. Running great. Checked oil level today and noticed some milkshake on the dipstick.. Nothing serious. But never ever ever there before.

Best guess I have right now is with the gear ratio on the outdrive changed the idle was able to be set lower.. close to 600 rpms in gear. Could this be reversion? I have not pulled any plugs yet.. Only other guess is the bungs in the exhaust were not sealed properly? (just a guess).

Any ideas?

One more thing. I check oil level almost everytime out.. This is the 5th or 6th run this spring and I have not noticed it before.

Are you sure about those rocker arm ratios????
Maybe 1.8's and 1.7's????

I would guess that maybe you have an intake gasket that didn't seal whn the rear to front ports were installed.

if you are seeing it on the dipstick there is quite a bit of water in there, you have a issue...change and run but keep close eye on it...

I am sure about that.. Put them on myself in Dec.

I never removed the intake.. just took out the rear plugs and ran 6an line from rear to front..

Would the oil level be higher then normal? How much is quite a bit? Pulled one cover off, not a drop of water anywhere..

Its most likely reversion or you have an internal issue. (Head gasket is my first guess) I would change the oil and raise the idle up to whatever rpm you turned with the old ratio. If the oil comes back reversion is less likely.

I can do a quick comp check on it.. My gut tells mer reversion OR the welder did not seal up the bungs correctly? Would I notice something on the plugs? Easy to check them.

The oil level has not raised. And there is NO milk what-so-ever in the upper half (valve area). the milk on the dipstick is light.. I mean very light..

Im thinking the bungs might not have been welded up correctly. Your cam isnt to radical, plus i would think with the cmi headers reversion shouldnt be an issue. But just for he heck of it, i'd bump the idle up a bit to 700-750 in gear and see if that helps.

9 out 10 times, when a problem suddenly occurs, its most likely something you recently changed or messed with.

If any one plug looks different that's a sign of water in that cylinder. It also points to a head gasket Ect. Same goes for the compression test if there is any major variation.

I agree 100%.. this thing has run flawless for 5+ years.. has to be something I changed.. I will pull plugs tonight.. and shap a few photos..

I do a comp test and leakdown each nov (or dec) whenever I put it up for the few winter months here.. Always great numbers.. lets pull some plugs and have a look..

thanks again all

I personally have noticed if you run to big of a line on the rear ports of the intake, that the water temp on the upper end stays really cool and builds a bunch of condensation in the oil galley. Tested differant size lines and the smaller the better. On my personal engines I have a 1/8" line of the rear ports, they dump overboard. Tried #6 then #4 then went down to 1/8". Just want to bleed the air from the rear not change the coolant flow. Unless you were having water pressure issues previously, some times bigger is not better. Did all my testing on a dyno, and noticed with the bigger lines the rear cylinders of the engines were way to cold. Never have tested the theory to run the lines to the front, I always dump the overboard. So I agree with Mild Thunder something that was changed recently. Or the 1 in a 100 chance you did loose a gasket seal some where.

So I went down there today and had a look.. pulled the dipstick. not one drop of milk.. nothing.. wiped it and pulled it several times.. nothing.. just pure V-Twin 20-50 oil with about 8 hours on it. filled exactly to the same hight as always. Pulled the plugs. the front (#1 and #2) look to be a little darker then I would like.. The rest were a light brown to a white-light brown color. right where I would expect to see them at 8 hours. but no hints of reversion at all that I can see.

So what did I see on the dipstick yesterday?

Maybe a little aeration in the oil. Had you been running it hard? Do you have a windage tray?

Run it again and check. Water does not disappear unless its really minor condensation that burns off.

Aeration huh? would too much or too little oil cause this? I run a 10qt Hardin pan offshore series. Nice piece. tray is in there. perhaps the builder did not meausre the dipstick correctly?

Since I switched gears in the lower I am now opperating at more RPM to SPEED ratio.. instead of 50@3000 I am now 50@3700.. perhaps running at higher RPMS is expsoing an oil level issue?

I agree. water does not just vanish.. But I know I saw something there yesterday on the stick.. and today it is perfect.

Too much oil will cause this. The crank hits it and bam milky oil. You may need to drain a quart and watch your oil pressure/temp.

Sounds like you need more prop pitch. Have you run it at wide open yet? What was the old redline vs. new?

I will monitor the oil next time out.. if it does it again, I will drain a QT and re-test.

Why do you say that about pitch? is 3700rpm @ 50 to high?
I am running a p5 hydro (26 pitch) labbed by Mike at halls prop. with the 1.25 ratio drive I was having a hard time getting to mid 80's @ 5000 rpms. (non GPS spedo at the time). Thats the max I could spin the motor..
I have not run it WOT yet this year. Trying to be nice to the new gears in the lower..

You will have to turn it over 6000rpm to go faster than the 1.25 or increase the pitch. Whats the new redline going to be?

5600 or so is the limit. I would like to see this motor last another 5 years.. :-)
I dont have any top end metrics yet.. I know I gained 700 rpm @ 50.. I will see this weekend assuming the oil issue is a non-issue first.

Then 80MPH will be the max. If at full throttle you see it going past 5600rpm you need more pitch.