Technical Uh Oh, oil out of the water pump on a fresh build

Put together a 406 SBC, nothing crazy, just an all forged low compression motor for my 47 Ford. Motor is on the stand and hasn't had water in it yet. I was priming the oil pump with one of the drill driven primer rods when all of a sudden the drill sped up and it sounded like cavitation from the oil pan???? 5 quarts of oil and it went from full on the dipstick to not enough to read on the dipstick! Nothing leaking on the floor and that's when my daughter asked what just started dripping from the water pump. Aerated oil coming from inside a new water pump. It is dripping from the radiator hose inlet. The only thing I can think of is head gaskets or a cracked block. Block is fresh from the machine shop. It was cleaned, bored, honed, magnafluxed, cam bearings installed, new freeze plugs and all oil passages were cleaned and new oil passage plugs installed. Reputable local shop and all parts are new. I can't really think of anywhere else oil can cross over to the water side.

 

Maybe you filled up the water jackets with oil..............................................

 

Pull it apart, you'll find the breach
You had the block pressure tested right

 

Head gaskets are the problem. At least, the heads are going to have to come back off.



Bones

 

Oil galley crack at the back of the block is one possible reason.

 

Seems it would have to be a real big hole to be a head gasket, especially on a motor that has never been started or warmed up. Pretty hard to get a SBC head gasket installed wrong also but stranger things have happened! Has to be a cracked head or block JMO.

 

that's weird

are all the headbolts in? just thinking... if someone left out one from under the valve cover that may fill the water jacket fast. especially the two lower corners ones

 

Should have added this to post #5

 

Yep. I started pulling it down. Inside heads are dry. Inside block on passenger side dry. Water jacket on driver side full to water pump bolt hole that is tapped into the water jacket. Has to be a head gasket or maybe a missing plug. I can't think of a plug anywhere that would cause this though.

 

All new ARP hardware, thread sealant and torqued to ARP's specs.

 

I just finished building a nice for 406 for my sled the spring. I also had a few minor leaks, turned out to Be sealant on the head bolts. Very thankful it was on the engine stand and not in the car to work out the bugs. Glad you had the sense to do the same. Hardly ever anything goes wrong, but when it does it's sure nice to have a sitting on the stand and not in the car.

 

'Scuse me for being a dummy, but where is there any pressurized oil on a SBC
that would be in contact with a head gasket?

 

I once had a small block 400 that had a crack on the high pressure side of the oil pump and it would put oil into the water jacket. I got pretty good at pulling and flushing my radiator every three days until I found it after a couple of weeks.
Oil in the water but no water in the oil. Had me baffled.

 

***Update****

I pulled the driver's side water jacket drain plug and drained the oil out. I then removed the head, put the push rods on the bench and started spinning the oil pump with the priming tool and the drill. This eliminates the top end as the culprit. The lifters pumped up with no problems and then oil came out of the open water jacket drain plug hole. This is all on the drivers side as the passenger side is dry as it is supposed to be. I doubt if it is a cracked block but more of a missing plug as the volume of oil is pretty big and it happens quickly.

 

There isn't. The only oil touching the head gaskets would be the drains into the lifter galley and those are gravity fed. The only possible way to get oil into the water jacket would be if the heads were not seating correctly on the deck. Possibly something like the dowel pins bottoming in the heads before the gasket is compressed. Even then it would have to be a huge gap to gravity feed the water jackets to full, the gap would be so big the oil would also leak out from under the head on to the floor. You sir are no dummy.

 

Since that head is off now, get a flash light and look thru water jacket holes on the deck at back wall off block. Now prime oil again and report what you see happening down there.

 

Apply air pressure to the oil sender port with the water jacket full of water look for bubbles.

 

You have bigger problems than head or head gasket or missing plug.

 

So what was the fix? A new oil pump? Or was the leak inside a passage in the block? This sounds like the best lead yet.

What I was thinking too. Bummer too because everything is new and not cheap.

 

You had the block pressure tested right
Before having it machined

 

Great idea. I think we have a dead soldier. Bubbles appearing between cylinders 1 and 3. Not good.

 

That galley. Wow! Did the engine have a prior bottom end failure?

 

Machinist said it was a good block, said he checked it. He did the work over 10 years ago and I've had it in dry heated storage the entire time. Finally decided to use it and started pulling all my squirreled away parts, Forged blower pistons, ARP bolts/studs throughout, Forged rods, forged crank all clearanced so the motor looked stock on the outside. Even had the rarer 509 block with two freezeplugs on the side so I could tell people it was a 327 with a set of 461 camel hump heads. Guess I need to find another block and start over!

 

I bought the motor used from a guys truck bed. He thought it was a Pontiac 400. I stripped it down before I sent it out. Was all stock and just looked like a normal high mileage motor. This is really surprising, didn't expect any issue like this. 509 block with the 2 freeze plugs on the side

 

He said he did it before he started machining, I'm going to say he didn't, shame too because he has never let me down before. Been using him for 22-25 years. First issue ever.

 

Would it be worth while to try sleeving the left lifter bore if it's between 1 and 3 you would only have to do the front half

 

That would all depend if it's a crack (can continue traveling after repair sleeve) or rot and not to discount core shift.

 

On second thought would it even be possible to sleeve that galley? The lifter bores would have to be redone. Not an issue however the oil sleeve would have to be notched during re-bore for bronze lifter guides. Lot's of point's would be created that require sealing to be 100%.

 

That must be quite a crack to dump say 3 quarts of oil while priming the engine.

 

Freeze induced?