APKhaos

Here's the back story.
- Stock TurboS engine that has been rock solid for the last five seasons.
- The only problem over this perod was a head gasket failure [water jacket across to #4]
- Head gasket popped again at the end of last season.
- There was no massive overheating after the gasket failed - I shut it down as soon as the dread white smoke appeared.

So, finally got around to replacing the head gasket for the VIR race in June. After getting everything finished, the engine started and ran nicely. While coming up to temp, I noticed water in the oil and shut her down.

After cursing myself for hurrying the head gasket work [and missing the race] I sucked it up and replaced the head gasket again. Very carefully this time. Started it up, and guess what? Water in the oil again!!!

So, where's it coming from?
- the head gasket? Doubtful, given this was the second replacement.
- the internal oil cooler/filter console seals/gaskets?
- the turbo?
- a cracked cylinder head?
- a cracked block?

The coolant system holds pressure when cold. Set it up at 17psi, and after 12 hours it had only dropped 2psi.

Two big questions that I'm struggling with now:

- Is there any way to isolate which of these possible sources is actually leaking?
- Is there any other leak source I'm missing?

I guess I'm paying for the many years of solid performance from this engine. Its truly kicking my a$$ at this point.

rlm328

Warped head is the only item I can think of to add to your list.

Only other questions is did you get all of the water out of the oil last time around. How are your hoses mounted to your auxillary cooler, can they form a trap so that the fluid in the aux. cooler doesn't/cannot drain when you pull the drain plug?

Jeremy Himsel

Oil filter housing. Pretty common and if it hasn't been done yet then it's due.

APKhaos

Checked that too. Ran a straight edge over the entire surface in the second gasket cycle. Its deal flat.

Yes, that's a possibility. I ran two fresh fills of oil up to as hot as I could get it at idle before I dumped it to try to flush out any residual water. There may still be some trapped in the two external coolers. Might have to blow them out with compressed air or similar.

Its a low miles engine [35K] but they are still 1989 gaskets, so its due.

The struggle here is to try to prove where the leak is, rather than trial and error, if that's even possible.

APKhaos

UPDATE:
The coolant system has been pressurized at 17psi for 48 hours, with no drop in pressure.

Does this confirm that there are no currently active water to oil leaks?
I'm hoping that there is still some residual water in the oil circuit that needs to be found and cleared out. I guess its possbile that the water-oil leak is only active when the engine is running?

black944 turbo

I had a very similar issue and mine held pressure fine, mine ended up being the oil cooler seal. I would look at that. Are you getting milkshake in your breather or can you actually see water in your oil??? I was only getting milkshake and once that started the car was shut down and towed to the shop.

V2Rocket

oil is 99% in the pan when the car has sit for that period of time...there is residual on upper engine parts but remember there is no oil pressure.

my guess is the oil console

APKhaos

The pan is empty at present. I was hoping to see water working its way into the oil circuit, and maybe some clues about where it was leaking. No luck with that.

I'm going to open and drain the two extenal coolers and their lines. If it turns out there's a lot of water there, maybe another run with fresh oil just in case that residual water was the source.

The oil console is the likely suspect, so that looks like the next step.

FWIW, in the last run the oil was clear on the dipstick but there were water droplets in the drained oil.

V2Rocket

it might be a hole somewhere that 17 psi cant leak through, but 60-75psi that the oil sees could

Chris White

How did you find the water in the oil?
If the answer is 'when I drained it' I will bet that you had coolant in the oil cooler lines from the last failure and once you warmed it up it got back to the pan.

Cleaning the oil cooler after a failure is a must...and a pain.

APKhaos

I think you're right Chris. That's exactly what I'm hoping is the problem. First chance I get to break & drain the lines from the two external coolers will be interesting. Hoping to find lots of residual water :-)

The problem is water leaking into oil. No sign of oil in the water. No question that a leak path between the pressure side of the oil circuit and the water circuit would result in oil in the water. As you say 70psi oil would easily overcome 18 psi water. This seems to suggest that any leak is between the water circuit and the return side of the oil circuit, right?