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Water and Engine...

stockk5

stockk5

1/2 ton status
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Hey, this is something i am really scared of. I never go through water thats super super deep but a lot of the mud i go through is pretty watery never anything over my bumper, but it splashes up real high (4" lift and 33" K5 Blazer) I was running an open air filter for a while but i put my stock one back on in hope of keeping some water out. I am just nervous cuz last time i did an oil change my oil was bubbly and foamy from water being in it. What does it take to hydrolock or ruin your engine w/ it?
 
care to tell how then? would bubbles and foam in oil be caused by water? sry if this is a really basic idiotic question,, im new to all this just trying to learn.
 
85scottsdale said:
umm, if you got water in your oil its not from sucking it into the engine.....
Click to expand...

What he said ^

Blown head gasket is the first thing that comes to mind for me....
 
Could have a basd head gasket or cracked block. coolant in the oil.

Did you do this.
deep_water.JPG


If not i would not worry about it too muck. If you get the filter wet it will usually kill the engine from lack of air before anything else. That is unless you submerge it
 
water not good

Water in the oil will cause the bearings to dry out. Antifreeze will really cause a problem. You might expect a rebuild soon.
 
I agree with the others check the head gasket.

I have had my truck under water to the windshield several times. FYI Hydrolock is caused by water entering the air intake and getting into the cylinders while the piston is moving up on a compression stroke.
If your lucky the truck just barely rolled its engine bay to higher ground after you jumped to turn the key off instantly. It leaves you stuck in the mud with your girlfriend. If you shut it down in time the fix is to remove all your plugs and the ignition coil wire then crank the motor and let the pistons pump the water out of the cylinders. Once the water is out you can re-install the plugs and make your way home and all is happy. Not to mention the girlfriend is impressed that you can save the day.

If your not lucky water flooded the cylinder just as another dry cylinder fired. Air can be compressed. Water can not. You will then find parts of your engine have very large holes in them. Enjoy your swim its a good way to calm down before you get the repair and towing bills.

FYI the easy test for a head gasket leak is grey sweat smelling exhaust smoke, then confirmed by a compression test. A compression tester is only about $30 and all you have to do to use it is remove the spark plugs one at a time and disconnect the coil wire. Crank the engine a few times and record the pressure on each cylinder. Equal numbers are good. 1 or 2 different is bad.
 
Head gasket check: start it up pull the radiator cap off... If coolant/water comes spewing out of the radiator your head gasket/s is toast. Make sure the motor is cold when you do this.

Water in the oil is bad... coolant in the oil is deadly. Somehow coolant strips the oil from the bearings when running. As long as you don't run it the coolant or water won't hurt anything.

Water lock is known for bending rods.... if you have holes in the cylinder its probably because of detonation or a overheated(really overheated) motor.


An engine is a water tight pump that can be fully submerged as long as it can breath and exhale.... If you suck water its not a big deal as long as you get it out of there as soon as possible.
 
You put some in a jar and actually saw water? If so, are you running straight water in the cooling system?

If you are running anti-freeze and water, then some of that in the oil would make it look like a milk shake.

If neither of the above is true, then the problem is not coming from your engine.

Are there any oil leaks, or unprotected breathers? If there is oil coming out, there is a place for water to come in.

No water in the oil = buy better oil or invest in some windage protection for your oil pan.
 
water and oil will make a milkshake too... believe me.

How will better oil help that?


Be sure to check the head gaskets and intake gaskets one way or another. If your willing to put down a 75 dollar deposit at autozone you can test your cooling system for leaks with the pump doodad. Don't damage it and you will get your 75 back.

I had water coming in throught the intake gasket.
 
Did he say Milkshake in the first post? No....

Did he state whether or not he had just ran the piss out of the motor and changed the oil hot or not? No....

We are ALL giving him ideas based on how we interpret the information provided, guesstimating variables that may have been left out....


DID I SAY YOUR REPLY WAS ILLEGITIMATE? NO, JUST MY IDEAS ALSO....
 
dirtwarrior17 said:
water and oil will make a milkshake too... believe me.
Click to expand...

you sure milk and ice cream dont make milkshake? and sometimes chocolate syrup.


Either the poster can do a leak down test or see if the coolant is bubbling at idle.
 
Hmmmm, running an open air filter eh? This must be your toy truck that you don't use for your daily driver and will only put a couple more thousand miles on it because the engine is going to cannon pretty soon so I wouldn't really be worried about going through some deep azz water.
 
well the time i went through the water was about 1month ago atleast and i did change the oil when my truck was hot right after driving it. so it was a lil bubbly. My truck has been driving completely fine and it has the normal smoke on start up like it always has. like i said i was in water only maybe up to my bumper and it didnt splash over my truck like in that picture at all. this question came up from yesterday when i went mudding.. just going through puddles that when i hit them at high speeds blasted up over my truck and i was running one of those open air filters, i took it off though and put my stock air filter back on. im prob over reacting to this and making a bigger deal than it is because i see many of you guys through deep water but that doesnt mean u blow a head gasket every time. thanks for any input though.
 
It looks like you are a little confused...


Head gaskets blowing is not at all related to water crossings or mudding... If you blow a head gasket its either because its really old or you got the motor way too hot. you got to get it real hot. I had my stock 350 up to 300 and never blew a head gasket but later i lost a main bearing.
It sounds like your oil was ok but i would still do a leakdown test to be sure.
 
dirtwarrior17 said:
It looks like you are a little confused...


Head gaskets blowing is not at all related to water crossings or mudding... If you blow a head gasket its either because its really old or you got the motor way too hot. you got to get it real hot. I had my stock 350 up to 300 and never blew a head gasket but later i lost a main bearing.
It sounds like your oil was ok but i would still do a leakdown test to be sure.
Click to expand...

Or if your running Nawz like ricers
 
Some oils are better formulated to resist foaming than others. If his oil is always foaming, that is not very good on components - leaving 'dry' spots.

If the crank case is to full and the crank is whipping it into a frenzy this will cause it to aeriate also.

He did not answer any of my inquiries to really tell if this might be the case....
 
Good point. I forgot about other sources for water in oil. My truck has a slightly rusted oil cooler line. If it gets much worse oil will drip out so no reason water can't get in. Its worth checking.

Btw. by holes in the engine I meant what happens if the rod did not bend. I have a picture somewhere of what used to be a firebird's 350 after it drove through a flood.. There is a huge hole in the cylinder wall, and the outside of the block looked like the liberty bell.
 
One thing that nobody has brought up is the crankcase ventilation system. A malfunctioning or nonexistant system will not vent the condensation out of the motor and that will result in the "milkshake" as described above.

A friend of mine once bought a '66 Chevelle with a 327. The car had no PCV system, just dual chrome breathers in the valve covers. I tried to convince him to run a rubber hose and PCV valve but he resisted. After the first 2 oil changes where the oil looked like tapioca pudding, he finally put one in. The oil looked normal after the addition of the PCV system.:D
 
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