Lots of water in oil... stumped!!
 

My engine is a 98 HP500

Ok, well I had a restriction in my cooling system last season and toasted a headgasket on the last outing of the year. Got the boat back to the dock and went home. Did a compression check and found bank 2 cylinders to all be 50psi or less. After tearing down the engine I found the headgasket blown between each cylinder.

I sent the heads to the machine shop, had them magnafluxed, and refreshed. Replaced the headgaskets with 17048 gaskets. New ARP bolts, sealed all the bolts with ARP thread sealant. I did make a switch from the factory Dart intake to a Weiand Team G. Used the Cometic C5649-060 intake gaskets, and trimmed them so the valley pan could fit.

Fired the motor, all was good, took it to the lake, came back and found about 4-5qts of water in the crankcase. (Also noticed a weird whistling sound at certain RPMs) Immediately flushed the engine and got fresh oil in it. First thought was intake gaskets, so I removed the intake, checked the gaskets and reinstalled everything, being more generous with the RTV. Took it out again and low and behold, it leaked again, but only when you actually drive the boat and put more water and pressure through it. Flushed the engine again, put fresh oil in. Removed the oil cooler to take a look at what was going on. Pressure tested to 120psi, no leaks.

I am ready to remove the cylinder heads and see if something went wrong with the head gasket install, but I am at a loss unless the heads and/or block is cracked. Anyone else have any other ideas?

Before you tear it down check the exhaust manifolds. Might've cracked when it overheated. I had a hole in exhaust and it filled up the block by pushing the water past the rings. Just a thought, may be an easy fix instead of the teardown.

Brand new lightning headers with the motor this year....

Are you sure the intake is bolted down tight? Recheck the 1st bolt in the torque pattern after you get to the last one. It took me at least 5-6 times around before all bolts held torque. Mine also filled with water till I ran across this issue. Just the 2 times around the pattern wasn't enough in my case.

That much water I can't see an exhaust problem. Motor would hydro lock, I'd think

I retorqued and then some on the second reseal of the gaskets. No change.

Will not mix at idle, only under higher pressure.

I forgot to mention that its pulling this much water in about 5 minutes of run time.

head gasket or intake !

did you check the surface of the block? generally when a head gasket goes it damages the head surface and the block surface.

I did not have the block machined, I left the shortblock alone. I plastigauged the bearings, and installed a new oil pump.

I checked flatness of the deck, and it was .002" max, I was originally going to run MLS, but since I did not have the correct RA, I ran the 17048 gaskets instead.

Even with a bad surface you think it could mix that amount of oil that fast?

You need to run these intake gaskets you have a intake leak and what you are hearing is a vaccum leak
http://www.cpperformance.com/p-11759...ular-port.aspx

Pressure test the block with water before you take anything apart. You will be able to hear the water going in and where it's going in.

1) Pull the spark plugs out so if it is indeed a head gasket you'll see it dribbling out of the cylinder - doesn't sound likely based on the above
2) Plug the water outlet hoses going to the exhaust
3) Use a garden hose and clamp it to the inlet hose going into the motor, after all the coolers.

I use a ball valve between the garden hose and intake hose to control how much pressure I build, most municipal water pressure is around 40 psi. If you have a water pressure guage that helps.

But then you should be able to tell pretty quick where your leak is. If you do that and it holds pressure, it's something external to the engine.

I dont have an answer. Just brought back a memory. My 98 hp500 actually ate the head and block when it did the same thing. Mine was toast. Good luck.

I think the block is cracked...pull the plugs, see if any sign of water there, that will narrow down where getting in...but I'm thinking on the oil side..if that much water getting in that fast thru manifolds or head gaskets would have to be missing bad..

This sound familiar! I over heated a motor. Got home and went over it with a fine tooth comb. Changed water pump, oil and did compression tests as well leak down. Everything looked good. So I fired it up in the drive way and dropped a valve seat... Rebuilt and had water in the oil bad.... After many intake gaskets and block pressure tests, I found that the intake had warped just a little and allowed the flat end on the rear to touch the block when put in place dry. This made the intake really warp when I torqued it down... Took the intake to my machine shop and a little resurfacing did the trick.
I would also suggest torquing the intake a min. of 6 time and using the 'aroundy round' pattern.

Also could have one of the head gaskets pushed into the valley. That will fill a motor quickly also. The seating surface is fairly thin between the water jacket and the valley. This doesn't show up on a compression check.

Pulling the plugs is a good idea too.

Based on what you are describing I believe that you probably have an intake leak. when you remove the intake clean all the old gasket material off and set the intake back on without a gasket and make sure that the intake can sit against the heads without anything else touching such as the front or back of the lifter valley or the part of the head gasket that is in line with the lifter valley ends. If the intake sits on the valley end or the head gasket then you will never be able to get the intake to seal. You should also check that none of the intake bolts are to long and bottoming out before actually sealing the intake gaskets. I would also try to pressurize the cooling system to try to find the leak but I personally would just use air. When I have to diagnose these kinds of problems I do the complete engine and then remove the intake and redo the test with just the heads installed. If it holds air with just the heads installed you know it is intake related. Hope that this helps and if you need more ideas let me know. Rob

I had a similar problem using a merlin intake and the cometic intake gasket that the instructions specified. Check the gasket's alignment with water port on intake and head; in my case the gasket's water port was about 1/4" too large. Took the intake to the local speed shop and found a Mr. Gasket intake gasket that fit properly and problem solved. Good luck with it, Rick

Before pulling everything apart it might be a good idea to invest in a cheap borescope http://www.google.com/products/catal...0338444561805#

Something like this is a great diagnostic tool. I have one that I've used for years on aircraft engines, gearboxes, and other hard to inspect areas on helicopters and airplanes. By pulling the distrib. you could see the underside of the intake. Also through the plug holes the inside of the cylinders, and by pulling the dipstick tube, the bottom of the engine. With all that water winding up in the oil I would think it would be pretty easy to find where it's comming from.

Yeah I have a video scope, never thought about using that. It will work nicely through the dist. hole, I will give that a look see.

Yeah I think this Team G intake and the cometics are the problem somehow.

With the block drained before the freeze, (never installed coolant, but engine was disassembled) could the block still crack? Is there areas in the block that will hold water even if the plugs are pulled? Enough to crack the block somehow?

Dude, I had a Team G on my old HP465. F*cker would never seal up. Always had water in the oil. Always.
Ditch it for something else. Even an Edelbrock RPM Air-Gap would be fine.

Here you go:
http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...rt-intake.html

There was a Dart single plane painted black in the Swap Shop for $100 a month or so ago. You might search for it.

Brand new one for 2 bills.
http://www.cpperformance.com/p-13546...-manifold.aspx

Swapped the cometics out for cheap fel pros using no sealant around water ports. Done deal! No more leaks.