Milky Oil, Oil Pressure UP/Down. Monsoon 325

[MadMan]

8 minutes ago, BusterSaunders said:

Thanks. Its the lightest shade of "straw" right now, very little water I think. Fingers crossed after this oil change this afternoon.

I hope this works out.  Also, that flaky oil pressure reading is almost always caused by a bad oil pressure sensor.  I had a bad one, and my gauge was doing the exact same thing.

[formulaben]

2 hours ago, MadMan said:

I hope this works out.  Also, that flaky oil pressure reading is almost always caused by a bad oil pressure sensor.  I had a bad one, and my gauge was doing the exact same thing.

Me too.  Seems like there was a batch of us 2002 models changing that unit the last couple years.  I'd change it out just as a precaution, as it's cheap and easy.  It's the "big one" on the left in the picture on this thread.

[Woodski]

@BusterSaunders:  Looking at your description it appears you had two incidents that might have created a problem:  1. an overheat event  -and- 2. maybe an internal block freeze event along with the possibility of water ingestion when you did the manifold swap.  Given the possibility of damage that could be done with either event, I would suggest not rushing to drop the boat in the water but run a couple of tests to verify no significant damage has been done.

To verify the combustion and upper end integrity of the engine I suggest running a leak down test, that tell you about the head gasket condition, valves and if other combustion chamber elements are okay and adds a lot more info to a compression test.  To confirm the cooling system integrity you can run a pressure test on that and since the cooling system is actually 'open' here is a way to do it.  Buy, beg or borrow a cooling system pressure tester (from your local auto parts store) and to seal off the system you might need to get a cheap SBC thermostat housing and attach the pressure tester there using a short piece of radiator hose.  On the intake side, you will need to disconnect the intake side and fashion a plug for the circulation pump inlet (a rubber freeze plug clamped in a short piece of hose will work as an example).  Pressurize system and see if it holds pressure over a period of time.  You can or could do it with or w/o water in the system, if you do it with water you might want to leave oil drain plug out with a pan under that to see if it fills with water & also capture any water that would end up in the bilge.  Good luck.

'Cheapo' HF version of what I am referring to:  http://www.harborfreight.com/radiator-pressure-tester-kit-63266.html

I agree with others that it appears very little water mixed with the oil, but it also sounds like you have not run the engine much either and don't have a good history on the engine so some extra due care might pay off in a summer of enjoyment rather than chasing issues.  Also, to the comment on water getting in to the cylinders from a riser joint leak, as an engine cools if there is water internal to the exhaust manifold, it will naturally be drawn in to the cylinder with an open exhaust valve.  One other comment, if water is getting in to the combustion chamber and you have a hydro lock issue, that can bend a connecting rod or crack a piston which becomes a major repair.

[BusterSaunders]

Thank you @woodski. I'll test the engine with what you've mentioned. 

[BusterSaunders]

Update 3.30.17

I drained the oil and replaced with a new filter. Here's the results from that

-old oil was very milky 

- ran engine for 30 min checking oil every 5min. The oil stayed clear the entire time. This is 6 times longer that I ran it yesterday (first since winterizing). 

-temp came up to 170 then down to 160 where it stayed. Looks like I may need a thermostat 

- oil pressure gauge still up and down. Prob need a new sender

- motor ran great. Has a tick at idle that goes away about 800rpm. Above that is good. 

[MadMan]

2 minutes ago, BusterSaunders said:

Update 3.30.17

I drained the oil and replaced with a new filter. Here's the results from that

-old oil was very milky 

- ran engine for 30 min checking oil every 5min. The oil stayed clear the entire time. This is 6 times longer that I ran it yesterday (first since winterizing). 

-temp came up to 170 then down to 160 where it stayed. Looks like I may need a thermostat 

- oil pressure gauge still up and down. Prob need a new sender

- motor ran great. Has a tick at idle that goes away about 800rpm. Above that is good. 

This is excellent news.

The tick could be an exhaust leak between the head and manifold.

 

 

[BusterSaunders]

12 minutes ago, MadMan said:

This is excellent news.

The tick could be an exhaust leak between the head and manifold.

 

 

I was relieved but definitely wanna do a few more test. 

The tick was there last season before I changed the exhaust manifolds. Same tick this time. 

[boardjnky4]

right on!

[shawndoggy]

preliminarily sounds like GREAT news.

Bet you actually winterize it next season.

[BusterSaunders]

11 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

preliminarily sounds like GREAT news.

Bet you actually winterize it next season.

Lol yeah for sure. I was thinking the same