water leaking in oil - Universal Diesel 5411

[stef9]

I own a Catalina 27 sailboat with a Universal Diesel engine 5411 from 1980.

Water was not coming out of the exhaust pipe anymore. After unplugging the exhaust manifold, I ran the engine but quickly saw emulsified water coming out of the breather.
After having flushed all the oil out, I filled the block water cooling system using a garden hose with pressurized water. I saw water was coming out of the oil drain hole ...

I have talked to few people and they are mostly pointing me to a potentially blown head gasket which lets raw water going to the crank case.

1) Is this possble? What other problem could it be?

2) Can a head gasket be repaired?

3) I am trying to fix it myself ... Do I need to remove completly the valves to be able to remove the head?

4) What should I be careful of?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Regards

Stephane

[sailandoar]

(1) could be head gasket, cracked block, ????
(2) Head gaskets as they are made today are usually replaced. The flatness of the head should be checked if the head gasket is blown and if need be it can be ground flat.
(3) Often the valves remain on the head but not always.
(4) just generaly take care.. a universal mechanic may have specific warnings.

I think Universal may be a division of Westerbeke.

http://www.westerbeke.com/

I saw parts and manuals listed.

**************************
Purchase a service/repair manual and a parts list, they are invaluable in doing repair/diagnosis.

However, any good mechanic should be able to help you determine the cause. If it is a cracked block from winter freeze etc, then you may not want to bother purchasing the manuals which will likley be $50 to $75. If it is just a head gasket and you do the work yourself, my SWAG (guess) would be (a) manuals: $60, (b) Gaskets: $75, (c) machine head flat (if needed) $100, (d) box of bandaids/ bottle of aspirin (generic) $5

[capn_dave]

I noticed you live in California, so you probably wont have a problem with freezing water in the block.
Did your engine have an anti-siphon loop installed between the raw water heat exchanger and the wet exhaust?
Is your engine below the waterline?
Did you check the oil before you started the engine and was it ok?

The reason for these two questions is if you did not replace the vented loop water can siphon through the heat exchanger into the wet exhaust and then back into the exhaust valves filling your engine with water.

If none of the above applies, then it's probably a head gasket.

Good luck and fair winds

Cap'n Dave

[capn_dave]

I noticed you live in California, so you probably wont have a problem with freezing water in the block.
Did your engine have an anti-siphon loop installed between the raw water heat exchanger and the wet exhaust?
Is your engine below the waterline?
Did you check the oil before you started the engine and was it ok?

The reason for these two questions is if you did not replace the vented loop water can siphon through the heat exchanger into the wet exhaust and then back into the exhaust valves filling your engine with water.

If none of the above applies, then it's probably a head gasket.

Good luck and fair winds

Cap'n Dave

[awayocean]

Check the raw water pump.

[Faster]

For the original problem (no cooling water at exhaust), check strainer (if present) or RWC impeller. These are much more likely to be the cause rather than a cracked head or failed gasket.
However if you ran a while with no water flow this could (due to overhheating)lead to more serious problems as previously described.
If I interpret your post correctly to say that you had a water hose on the outlet of the exhaust manifold while draining the oil, you may well have put water into the crankcase through an open exhaust valve.
If the problem appears to be not serious, a couple of quick oil flushes and a fast change after running a while, after fixing the original water flow problem may be all that is required.
Good luck!

[RhodesCaptain]

A blown head gasket will without a doubt allow water to enter into the crankcase. If you have a moderate amount of mechanical aptitude you should have no difficulty replacing the gasket yourself with the aide of a service manual. The way you worded your question leads me to believe that you are a complete novice with regard to this kind of work. I would suggest that you find someone with engine work experience to assist you and help you gain experience so you can do it youself the next time. Also, use a digital camera and take lots of pictures to refer to when putting it back together. I am puzzled as to why you didn't have water coming out of the exhaust. If you have a heat exchanger your raw water shouldn't be coming into contact with the engine and if you don't have a heat exchanger, a blown head gasket or a cracked head shouldn't allow all of the water into the crankcase, therefore you should still have water running into the exhaust. You may have multiple problems here, My guess is you have a problem with your cooling system that allowed the engine to overheat and blow your head gasket. Don't be intimidated, it's really not that complicated and afterwards you will have this experience. Good Luck.

[DeepFrz]

A corroded oil cooler can allow water into your oil as well, and may be the most likely culprit.

I agree with RhodesCaptain about getting an experienced person to help you. You obviously have no, or very little mechanical experience and a diesel engine is no place to start learning on your own.

hth
Phil

[stef9]

I have removed the head, replaced the head gasket with one of my own which doesn't allow the water&oil to go through it to the head, put back the head and pressurized the block cooling system with water running from a garden hose.

Result: the water comes out flowing from the oil drain hole!!!

Cracked block?

Note:
- the water pump, exhaust manifold are out of the picture

[DeepFrz]

Check the oil cooler?