water in the sump

[C M Smith <cmsmith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It is rare for a large quantity of water to condense in an engine, but not 
unheard of. Normally, the engine oil gets hot enough to boil any water (and 
fuel) condensate out into the PCV system where it is drawn into the engine 
and burned. It's a shame you didn't save some of the water to determine 
whether it contained any glycol. Coolant definitely comes from the leak in 
the head gasket, or possibly a cracked head. Plain water could be 
condensation. Either way, oil floats on water or coolant so that's why it 
comes out first from the drain hole.

As for why no mayonnaise, well for that to happen the oil needs to have the 
water or coolant thrashed around in it by having the water/coolant hit by 
something like the crank, or the cams, to emulsify the water into the oil.

There is often a small amount of emulsion under the filler cap, or dipstick 
tube due to very small amounts of condensation getting thrashed into the oil.

The preventative for this is to ensure you run the engine until it gets 
good and hot at least once per week. This means the oil needs to get hot. 
This can be tough to do in winter up here in the frozen North which is why 
I like to change my synthetic oil in Spring if I can get the timing right.

Cheers

Michael


Michael Smith
White 1991 164L
Original owner
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