Water in oil?!?!?!? HELP!

Hmm...glad I'm not the only one here that watches Roadkill. A little water dripping from an exhaust tip is normal, though.

It doesn't sound good at all when you describe the oil as "creamy". It could just be a failed head gasket, but could also be a crack in the block and/or head. Check your radiator's water level/condition of the antifreeze/water and also see if there is abnormal pressure build-up when removing the cap. Water out the tailpipe is "normal" for a few minutes after start-up, but after engine warms to operating temps there should not be any water spitting out the tailpipe. Good luck, hopefully your worst case scenario is a bad head gasket. Do a compression test and have the cooling system tested for pressure, these should help with diagnosing the problem. Keep us posted. Todd

Edited by aquartlow - 18-March-2014 at 11:48AM

Also check for PCV functioning. PVC not functioning/not there can cause moisture in the oil, especially with a little blow-by.
You are running a 351 W, correct? If so, check the intake manifold bolts. They can lose torque/loosen just a bit and let water squeek by. Because they go straight down, (perpendicular to the ground, not perpendicular to the heads) they don't always hold tight. the service manuals for ford smallblocks used to specify a retorque interval of 30K miles or so. DO NOT go ape tightening these bolts. Use the correct torque value as they are small and break with application of too much elbow grease. Also. if you are running an aftermarket intake, the bolts may bottom out(too long).

sounds like you need Ilyes, he loves pulling heads

has it been excessively humid there in TX, I kinda doubt it?

what engine, 302 / 5.slow ?

I would hold very little hope in retorquing to stop a head gasket coolant leak on any engine


Edited by Rockatansky - 18-March-2014 at 12:35PM

it could be as simple as an intake manifold gasket weeping into the valley

the exhaust should clear up as you say it does after the engine reaches operating temp for a bit

running w/o a thermostat can cause crankcase condensation, sludge & worse

Edited by Rockatansky - 18-March-2014 at 12:57PM

Big Bird wrote: Also check for PCV functioning. PVC not functioning/not there can cause moisture in the oil, especially with a little blow-by. You are running a 351 W, correct? If so, check the intake manifold bolts. They can lose torque/loosen just a bit and let water squeek by. Because they go straight down, (perpendicular to the ground, not perpendicular to the heads) they don't always hold tight. the service manuals for ford smallblocks used to specify a retorque interval of 30K miles or so. DO NOT go ape tightening these bolts. Use the correct torque value as they are small and break with application of too much elbow grease. Also. if you are running an aftermarket intake, the bolts may bottom out(too long).

sounds like normal condensation at the top of the stick, pcv, and filler cap. is the entire oil creamy? if you are getting coolant in the oil, it won't take long running and /or driving and the oil will be ALL creamy color, if it's just on those areas thats normal

you're probably fine, if you drive it 5 or 10 miles and the entire oil is creamy- you got problems!

We have those issues around here with a whitish creamy condensate in our engines. Short trips, repeated starting and stopping, cold weather, etc don't let the engine oil get up to a proper extended temperature. You have not been driving the car much, so that is to be expected. WIpe off what you can, change the oil, get in the car and drive it for a good while. All that condensate will go away. Just a normal thing with cooler weather and short trips.

Thanks guys, and yes I run antifreeze, it only gets below freezing for about a week or two, and if you don't run antifreeze your screwed! Found that out the hard way lol. I believe the white creamy stuff is just condensate. But I'll try what you guys said. I really wish I had an aftermarket heat gauge so I can at least know my temp. (Wiring is a mess!) i have a little leak around the water hose/intake seal and I don't have an overflow, but I'll try to fix the leak and rig something up for the over flow

a little coolant in the oil goes a long way toward making the milkshake

if you catch it early it's almost impossible to tell by the level in the radiator

by the time you start seeing the coolant down...

Grantorinosport351 wrote: your screwed!

Edited by Rockatansky - 19-March-2014 at 10:48AM

IIRC 5 1/2 qts with the filter, so you should be just a hair above the full mark if you put in 6 qts?

a little bit, no, several qts- yes. years ago my dad got a car gave to him, i went to drive it home, long story short, the kid wanted his mom to buy him a new car so he put 10 qts in that datsun b210 they said it smokes bad, seemed fine at first, waiting at the long light in town, after what seemed like 10 mins at the light i took off in traffic OMFG it smoked out the whole block got it home the next day my dad checked the oil it was way overfull, he drained it and put the 4 required qts back in and it ran awesome! basically the crank was dipping into the oil and flooding the cylinder walls with oil causing the smoke

Too much oil will cause frothing, seals leaking, loss of oil pressure, then "Screechhhhh thud". However, a quart over is not awful, but I would get it to normal level asap. SBF with stock pan and reg filter takes 5 quarts. But, 5.5 is correct for some to reach full for reasons unknown.

Well the motor doesn't leak, and it doesn't smoke, so I think it will be ok, but eventually (before I start putting actual miles on it) I'm going to change the oil and see what's going on, but as of now, I don't think the antifreeze is mixing.the oil was a nice brownish black color.