8-101 Water in Oil

We just took delivery of our 33 8-101 Auburn speedster today and got a bit of a surprise. Got it off the trailer and up the driveway and it was overheating. The engine seemed to fire right up and ran good no smoke or anything. After it cooled down I put at least a gallon of water in and I did not see any leaks.

Next I checked the oil and the level was high and the oil was medium gray so I assume water has gotten into the oil system.

I got a hold of the owner 2 owners ago and he had told me the engine was freshly rebuilt and only had about 75 miles on it when he traded it. He thinks maybe the head needed to be re-torqued but if water is getting in the cylinders to me that means it needs a new head gasket.

Any thoughts on other ways the coolant could be getting into the oil?

I drained all of the water out so it could not seep anymore into the engine.

I assume at this point I should get the old oil mix out and at least put some fresh oil back in and turn it over a few times to attempt to stop any corrosion.

Any other thoughts and does anyone have head removal and installation procedures and torque specs for the head?

Update, I ran a torque wrench over the head bolts at 50 ft lbs and one bolt was defiantly loose. If I could get the proper torque specs for the head I may find a few more loose.

50 ft lbs is adequate. With a new gasket, you can start out at 45 lbs and then tighten after running her awhile. It's not unusual to have stripped threads in the block, so you may need to go to a longer bolt where needed (as a quick fix)
Mark

Did the past owner that had the motor rebuilt put hardened valve seats in? If so, it is not unusual for the machine shop to hit the water jacket doing the machining operation for the seats. Make sure the head and block are flat. If the torque you checked was 50 Lbs. it is very likely the head has been retorqued. These blocks are prone to have cracks in the valve seats.
Cordially Mike

mikespeed35 wrote: Did the past owner that had the motor rebuilt put hardened valve seats in? If so, it is not unusual for the machine shop to hit the water jacket doing the machining operation for the seats. Make sure the head and block are flat. If the torque you checked was 50 Lbs. it is very likely the head has been retorqued. These blocks are prone to have cracks in the valve seats.
Cordially Mike

If they did hit the water jacket can this typically be fixed? Also is 50Lbs the correct torque for the head bolts?

I am trying to figure out the best way to test this. I put a little air pressure on the cooling system and for a few mins it help air so what ever it is it is a small leak.

I was thinking of putting a few pounds of pressure on the cooling system to see if it leaks down. If it does then I figured I would start seeing if I have any leakage in each cylinder by pulling each plug and if nothing there then I would talk the side panel off and see if I have sense any leak without water in the system. If that does not work I figured I would add water and a little air pressure and see if I can visibly see where the water is leaking out.

I have a new gasket set and a radiator pressure tester coming this week.

Thanks,
Curt Curtiss

mikespeed35 wrote: Did the past owner that had the motor rebuilt put hardened valve seats in? If so, it is not unusual for the machine shop to hit the water jacket doing the machining operation for the seats. Make sure the head and block are flat. If the torque you checked was 50 Lbs. it is very likely the head has been retorqued. These blocks are prone to have cracks in the valve seats.
Cordially Mike

Mike,
I found out they did not do hardened seats but I did some more diagnosis and found my issue.

I put 4 lbs of air on the radiator and I could hear a small his around the back valve cover. I took off both covers and there is still some antifreeze in the head and it was trickling out of what appears to be 3 small pin holes in the bottom of the rear water jacket between the valves and the cylinders. It seems like the cast got a little porous and some coolant is making it's way through or it might just be rusted thin.

I have been given a number of ideas like clean up the 3 holes and JB Weld them then run the Irontite Ceramic sealer through it after a good flushing. Brazing is an idea but I think the engine would need to be pulled and taken down which I am trying to avoid.



This is a link to two videos of the leak.

https://youtu.be/ol4k8x7OMD8

https://youtu.be/JQU225GvDAM [/color]