[ATTACH=CONFIG]521781[/ATTACH] these are the elbows that went bad on mine. the inner part just dissolved, allowing the water to pass back into the pistons and into the oil.

Yes I have tested the inercoolers. I actually recently had the coolers re-cored. I will find out tonight if the exhaust was the issue.

I was dead on. I figured it was an exhaust problem of some short. Only because I have been down that road before. Hint, Hint...... You might as well and go ahead and replace the other side as well. Glad your problem has now been resolved.

I have read where people see oil level raise due to water, but mine never has indicated that. Mine does not really show on the dipstick but it is very thick milkshake in the valve covers. The amount of mixed water and oil would lead me to believe a ton of water got into the oil. Did your exhaust leak give a similar result?

I already changed both sides, but finished up too late to run the motor. I will tonight and hopefully the issue is gone. I know this is an issue plenty others have had.

The merc high performance exhaust he has is entirely different than what you show here. The blue motors do not use a wet joint exhaust. They use gill or cmi with hi rise tails that dump closer to the transom

I once had a hair line crack near a valve on a head that would only show it's face at higher temps and rpms. I was sure it was a head gasket, I missed the crack the first time :/.

Good luck, I hope it was your exhaust. Chasing water intrusion on a booster engine can be difficult

As a somewhat newbie reading this - wouldn't there be signs of a leaking manifold in the exhaust and valves in the head. Wouldn't you see rust if you were getting that much water from the manifold or riser?

If it is not showing more oil on the dipstick it is most likely reversion combined with low oil temps. What oil temps are you seeing cruise and wot? What rpm are you idling at in gear and do you go long distances in no wake zones?

Very possible. And he's yet to answer the camshaft question.