first start rebuilt engine , water in oil

[Jc Deluxe P20]

i  bought  a  1948  218  that  had  been  rebuilt  but  never  installed  for  my  1937  P4  Plymouth  business  coupe  .  After  starting  for  the  first  time  i  ended  up  with  about  8  qt's  water  and  4  qt's  oil  in  my  drain  pan  .What / Where  do  you  reckon  the  problem  lies  ?

[Jc Deluxe P20]

[Sniper]

I reckon the problem lies inside the engine, only a tear down will narrow it down for you.

[Los_Control]

At least you will need to pull the head, maybe dig deeper with a complete disassembly & inspection.

 

Just a thought, My Uncle once bought a rebuilt 218 flathead for a project he never got to.

The seller had removed the head so the buyer could inspect the internals & see it was rebuilt.

 

My Uncle bought it & he just set the head back on & snugged up the bolts ..... shoved it in a corner. til he died 30 years later.

So whoever has the engine now, It needs a new head gasket & bolts torqued down in order to run it.

Is it possible something like that happened to your engine? Or, do you know complete history on it?

[Hickory]

With diesel trucks we would pull the oil pan and injectors (plugs in this case) and then pressure the coolant system and watch for the leak   

That is a lot of water. How long did it run. That should present itself with pressure and watching for leaks.

[Hickory]

Then you would know if it is a head gasket, crack in block ect....

[Jc Deluxe P20]

i  don't  know  the  history  ,  i  did  see  the  donor  car  .  i  took  the  thermostat  out  and  poured  water  in  ,  every  bit  came  out  of  the  oil  pan  .  i  plan  to  pull  the  pan

 

the  water  passages  could  have  been  rusty  i  took  the  water  distribution  tube  out  in  a  dozen  pieces  ,  miserable  job !!

[Los_Control]

Just now, Jc Deluxe P20 said:

i  took  the  water  distribution  tube  out  in  a  dozen  pieces  ,  miserable  job !!

IMHO, that is a red flag .... should have been changed during the rebuild.

Since they did not, I would also question what else was done or not done during the rebuild.

 

 

[Ivan_B]

Well, the place where coolant could leak into the oil system is usually the head/block junction. So, you would likely at least have to remove the head for inspection, as already suggested. It is generally a bad idea to run a used "rebuilt" engine without complete inspection. Unless it was done by a reputable shop, with valid warranty, there could be literally anything inside. I've had a very bad experience with a motorcycle engine "rebuilder", once. The guy never finished the work so I took it to a different shop, which ended-up redoing everything because things inside were badly screwed-up. ?

[Jc Deluxe P20]

i  can  close  this  thread  .  the  source  of  the  leak  is above / around  the #3  main cap .  the  rusty  area  shown  in  the picture is  it  .

[joecoozie]

Now you need to figure out WHY it is leaking

[Sam Buchanan]

4 hours ago, Jc Deluxe P20 said:

i  can  close  this  thread  .  the  source  of  the  leak  is above / around  the #3  main cap .  the  rusty  area  shown  in  the picture is  it  .

 

So how is water getting into the pan?? More questions than answers.....

 

 

[Hickory]

Seems like it would be a crack between two cylinders. I hope not but a possibility.

[D35 Torpedo]

Tough  break  man.  Must  be  a  crack  .....