Milky Oil Need help

[riverrat 0]

Hi all, I just started to winterize my 2001 Elite-V and noticed the the oil is a milky gray color. The boat ran great all year with no issues. Never overheated always ran around 175 on the temperature gauge. I always checked the oil before each trip out and never saw gray oil on the dipstick or had to add oil. I bought the boat this spring, so this is the first time I've winterized it. Just not sure if this is expected or do I have major issues? I bought the boat with 90 hrs. on it and it now has around 120. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to try and attach a picture of the oil.

Thanks Chris

 

Edited September 19, 2011 by riverrat

[Jackfly 0]

Hate to say it but you probably have a crack somewhere in your cooling system. You should never find milky oil. More than likely a serious issue. Unless you are really mechanically inclined I would get it right in to a good shop. Good luck.

[riverrat 0]

Thanks for the reply. Been doing some surfing of the net and have found some info on bad exhaust maniflod gaskets, could this be the problem?

[GOBIG 4]

A intake gasket could cause that but I don't see how the exhaust manifold gasket could. Its could be several different things a crack in block or head, a head gasket, or intake gasket. I can't remember but do these 350 motors have plastic intakes on them like GM uses those are bad about leaking

[riverrat 0]

Not sure if there plastic or not. Anybody know?

[riverrat 0]

Oil level never increased, just milky when I changed it. Never overheated or ran hot does a bad intake gasket make sense? I've never taken a motor apart but have a good friend that would help. Just need to know what to go after.

[GOBIG 4]

How long since it has been ran. It could be condensation

[superdtf 68]

You could try your luck and run it; you wont' damage it much more anyway. I've never seen oil like that, which doesn't indicate a crack or head gasket. Clearly the news is not good and if it were me I couldn't stand not knowing through the winter, because if the news is bad, I need the time to get it fixed.

[Jackfly 0]

As far as I know, an exhaust gasket will go tic tic tic. Very noticeable sound. Go ahead and change the oil, run it and see if it turns milky again. Listen for an exhaust leak. I have heard of a lot of exhaust man. gaskets going bad, but I can't seem to recall people mentioning milky oil. In fact I'm fairly confident that an exhaust gasket would not put water down in the pan.

Edited September 20, 2011 by Jackfly

[superdtf 68]

As far as I know, an exhaust gasket will go tic tic tic. Very noticeable sound. Go ahead and change the oil, run it and see if it turns milky again. Listen for an exhaust leak. I have heard of a lot of exhaust man. gaskets going bad, but I can't seem to recall people mentioning milky oil. In fact I'm fairly confident that an exhaust gasket would not put water down in the pan.

 

Correct. Exhaust gasket is hopeful thinking. Go drive it, not too heavy load. If it goes milky (hershey's chocolate milk) again, arrange to get the heads looked at, hopefully head or intake mani gasket rather than a cracked block.

[riverrat 0]

Thanks guys for all your help. I talked to a guy here at work and he asked me if I had water in the Bilge, I have . It rained pretty hard about two weeks ago and my plug was in. I got about a foot or so of water in the bilge area. Could this have been my problem? I'm going to flush the engine with clean oil and refill this weekend and run it on the water for about an hour or so then drain the oil and see how it looks. What weight oil should I be running? Thanks again for all your help.

[GOBIG 4]

Did you drain the oil or pump it out? I run 15 40 rotella.

[riverrat 0]

I pumped it out through the drain tube located on the bottom of the oil pan.

Edited September 20, 2011 by riverrat

[GOBIG 4]

I always pump mine out through the dip stick tube.

[riverrat 0]

Flushed the oil three times tonight in the driveway. Came out milky each time. Could the problem be my garden hose hook-up? I put in a tee on the inlet to the V-Drive and a ball valve on seawater intake. Could my garden hose have too much pressure which is causing the water side to leak by the head gasket? It might be time to take it in and let a mechanic look at it.

[riverrat 0]

What really gets me is the fact that it runs like a top. No smoke, doesn't get hot, no knocking.

[superdtf 68]

I'm sure nobody wants to say it, but it doesn't look good. There's no way your hose is "blowing past" any gasket. You're beyond our help here, and you'll have to take it to someone to look at it. Sorry man. That sucks.

[GOBIG 4]

No the water will not seep by a head gasket. Normally when a head gasket blows or a head is cracked it will run bad cause the water will leak into the cylender on top of the piston.

 

[GOBIG 4]

Before anything is taken apart you need to pressure check the cooling system.

[superdtf 68]

Before anything is taken apart you need to pressure check the cooling system.

Agreed. A qualified shop should be able to do that.