I have water in my oil on my 350 sbc. My buddy has oil in his water on his 400 sbc. So that got us to thinging why sometimes the oil ends up in the water, and other times the water in the oil. What are the differences between these two scenarios? Seems like if there is a place where the fluids can mix, then they could go both ways.
Depends on where the leak is and what kind of leak such as head gasket or a crack and pressure behind the leak.
intake to lifter valley: water in oil head gasket or cracked block/head can go either way depending on if the oil side is pressurized by the oil galleys. rick
I popped the head gasket on a Slant Six Duster I drove home from LA to NE Georgia three years ago. It was in the desert, and I could see the steam Old Faithfulling out the front, between block and head. After things cooled down, I checked the oil... no water in oil. Checked the radiator... a little oil in the coolant. So I said screw it and continued on my way and got all the way home... where the headgasket let loose because the water pump died the following saturday after I figured out the ignition problem that caused the overheating. That one emptied the radiator, but again, nothing in the oil. -Brad
I'll take oil in my water any day. I drove my old datsun a couple months with oil in the water... just pull over and drain the milkshake out of the radiator and refill with water couple of times a week.
Yeah, my 85 s10 has had a head crack since I got it two years ago, oil in the water, just drain it a replace once in a while, but on my HotRods I would fix it..........Roach.