Someone poured a gallon of water into the motor. I had eveything sealed, so it had to go in through a valvecover breather. I drained it, but there is still sludge in the pan. I put a new pan gasket on last year and got it sealed up. I would like to try and clean out the remaining mess without removing it. I was thinking of shooting a can of brake clearer in trough the drain plug. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks
You have problems. Does the motor turn over? If it does, take out all the plugs, drain the oil and try to spin it over. If there is water in the cylinders, that should force much of it out. If not and the engine is stuck, you are probably screwed. Probably have to tear it down, which is probably the best solution anyway. Tom
If you didn't start the engine with the water in it I don't think that there is a huge problem as long as you drained it pretty well. It wouldn't hurt to flush it out with a bit of diesel though and then fill it with fresh oil. Sure you didn't have a leaky hood or did you leave it setting with water and no antifreeze in it over the winter? I've seen several blocks that cracked on the inside and let the crankcase fill up with water because the owner didn't drain the water out of the block before storing the rig.
i think for as valuable as an engine is, a pan gasket is a cheap insurance that makes sure its clean....in my opinion anyways......... ive had too many big cube engines go bad, im so gun shy now im freaking about the smalles thing... easier to jsut do it right no matter the cost
Tom, the motor turns over. The water was put in while it sat and I caught it before I fired the motor. The block and radiator were drained last fall, so there was no water in the cooling system.
Out in my driveway. I only have a two car garage. There have been a number of crimes in the neighborhood this past year.
Exposed, water could seep through the intake gaskets & valve cover gaskets for that matter. Does it rain much in Oregan? Even condensation can build enough to . . . . . . I cover motors with a towel for condensation before wraping with some plastic if they are gonna sit for a while.
I did a lot of research on this when a friend's boat went to the bottom of a salt water harbor. Filled it (removed all plugs and poured diesel into the cylinders as well)with diesel until if couldn't take anymore. Drained. Turned it over to purge cylinders. Filled with proper amount of moter oil. Fired it up and ran it for half an hour. Repeated the diesel treatment. Drained and refilled motor oil. Never had a problem after that. It was a flat four, but that shouldn't make a difference.
There isn't enough info for me to make a suggestion....where is the water? how long has it been in the engine? where all is the water? how much rust is there? where is the rust? What was covering the engine?
Very possible that some neighbor didn't like a project car sitting in front of your home and was sending a message. If you didn't start it you are ok. Just flush it like the guys suggested, put in new oil, run it for a while and then change it and the filter one more time. I have had head gaskets go and fill the oil pan and the oil that was already in the bearings and covering things protected stuff pretty well. The comment made by AJ about the boat sinking is a very common scenario. We raised and flushed a lot of boats with I was in that business. You should be ok once you get the milkshake out. Don
The entire car was covered with a heavy commercial car cover. I have seen no evidence of any other leakage, on or around the motor or cabin. I will try the diesel flush first. Thank you for all the interest and suggestions.
If the engine wasn't run there will be no milkshake, the water would have just pooled in the bottom of the engine and should mostly just drain out. Like squirrel says though rust could be a problem. My 455 olds rusted up on me (stuck rings and cylinder wall rust) last winter when I had the intake off for a few months for a cam change. This was in a completely dry but unheated garage. Condensation is a factor in the PNW. I ended up panicking and tearing the engine apart when it wouldn't run worth a shit before I found this out, I propably could have got away with putting oil in the cylinders until it loosened itself up. And I too have put running outboards under salt water.....flush em and fire em!!
I had an FE Ford siting outside next to my garage for about 6 months under a tarp, sold it to a buddy. Good thing he changed the oil first, about 2 quarts of water came out with the oil. No idea how the water got into it, it was covered up pretty well. Bob
What tipped you off that there was water in it? Did you change the oil before mothballing it? Oregon gets lots of rain & humidity (I'm in Brookings) but not 1 gallon's worth. If you drained the oil & it was there then most likely only 1 or 2 cylinders had water in them. (open valves). What type of intake is on it & how long has it been on the engine? . I'd do a compression check before I started it to see if you have a bad head gasket. Also pull both valve covers to see how much water is in the Valve spring area. Movin/on
Would flush with diesel like suggested above. "back in the day" before engines had oil filters it was not uncommon for garages to put diesel/naptha in the engine, let it idle for a minute, drain and then fill with oil. Heck, I even had a small block chevy in a car that I pulled the intake and valve covers off of, steamed cleaned the snot out of it, let it air dry for a couple of days, buttoned it up, poured oil in and lived happily ever after.
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