Re: water in crankcase... stupid question...

[Matt Haas <mhaas@xxxxxxx>]

Tom,

The first car engine I rebuild was a slant six in one of the 68 Valiant's I 
had. In my rush to hear it run, I only didn't fully torque the head bolts. 
I basically ended up with the same problem you have except it didn't spew 
until it started cranking. All I did was drain the engine coolant and oil, 
tighten everything down, and refill. The engine was okay after that. I 
think the key is to get the engine dry as soon as possible.

I've also heard stories of cars being pulled out of lakes and the 
mechanical parts being okay as long as the water was drained quickly.

Matt

At 05:56 PM 5/27/2005 -0700, you wrote:
> Before I pull the block out...
>
> It seems likely that the headgasket is on backwards -- or missing
> -- or some other stupid problem. I'll pull the head, on the car,
> to check. Easy enough and makes engine pulling easier anyways.
>
> QUESTION: If I find the problem [say backwards head gasket] is
> there any chance of drying this thing out without tearing the
> whole thing down?
>
> It got water in the crankcase, definitely. Quarts. But it never
> RAN; there's no serious mixing and it never rose above room
> temperature. The crankcase was clean when I installed the oilpan;
> it had not been previously run with this problem [which really
> makes me think someone removed/restored the head and did a crappy
> job], there would have been evidence.
>
> More, I brought up oil pressure days ago, multiple times, with no
> water in it; I added water only this morning at the last minute
> before cranking. However, I have to assume it pumped water through
> the galleries.
>
> Maybe run something hydrophillic through it, like alcohol and oil?
>
> This seems desparate as I write it :-)

mhaas@xxxxxxx
Cincinnati, OH
http://www.mattsoldcars.com
1967 Rambler American wagon
1968 Rambler American sedan
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