Two steps forward and a giant leap backwards.

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doogievlg

doogievlg

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I was getting my Dart ready for its maiden voyage and decided to throw some fresh oil in it. The engine has less than 5 miles on it but it’s been sitting for a few years with start ups roughly every month. Oil never looked bad but I wanted to be safe. This is what I found. Smelled like fuel pretty bad but I wouldn’t think fuel or assembly lube would discolor it that bad. Running a pressure test on the system to check for leaks but part of me still hopes it’s something minor.

A85D6812-2774-4564-BE58-851177C4D574.jpeg
 
Pour some in a glass jar and let it set to see how it separates.
 
Mechanical fuel pumps go bad and leak into the oil...or that's what it was in the old days...:)

a good flooding or the carb leaking raw fuel into the intake will do it also.( a la Thermoquad...)
 
Dartswinger70 said:
Mechanical fuel pumps go bad and leak into the oil...or that's what it was in the old days...:)

a good flooding or the carb leaking raw fuel into the intake will do it also.( a la Thermoquad...)
Click to expand...

I know it had fuel in the oil from flooding it. Brand new fuel pump.
 
Condensate in the oil.... Only driven five miles and never run long enough to eliminate condensate... Short runs every month are worse than not starting the engine, either run it for 30+ minutes to build heat in the engine or don't start it...
 
1WildRT said:
Condensate in the oil.... Only driven five miles and never run long enough to eliminate condensate... Short runs every month are worse than not starting the engine, either run it for 30+ minutes to build heat in the engine or don't start it...
Click to expand...

I have never seen condensation change the color like that but that is what my old man said. If it passes the pressure test then I’m going to let it run for 30 minutes in the garage then check the oil again.
 
its either water or anti freeze, either will do the "chocolate milk" thing to the oil, it wipes bearings also.

anti freeze gets in from a few places, but a common is the intake gasket leaks into the lifter valley, I use silicone around the water ports of the head/intake for many years now because i had this situation happen once. you could pressure test the system, oil drain plug out see if antifreeze comes out the oil pan...
 
doogievlg said:
I have never seen condensation change the color like that but that is what my old man said. If it passes the pressure test then I’m going to let it run for 30 minutes in the garage then check the oil again.
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Why are you not driving it? Stop letting it sit there and idle. Get some load on it before you kill any possibility of decent ring seal. Letting it idle with no load won’t build oil temperature. Get a load on it.
 
Dartswinger70 said:
its either water or anti freeze, either will do the "chocolate milk" thing to the oil, it wipes bearings also.

anti freeze gets in from a few places, but a common is the intake gasket leaks into the lifter valley, I use silicone around the water ports of the head/intake for many years now because i had this situation happen once. you could pressure test the system, oil drain plug out see if antifreeze comes out the oil pan...
Click to expand...

No brass in the filter and oil pressure is still holding at 60 so I don’t think it has done serious damage to the bearings yet.
 
Rat Bastid said:
Why are you not driving it? Stop letting it sit there and idle. Get some load on it before you kill any possibility of decent ring seal. Letting it idle with no load won’t build oil temperature. Get a load on it.
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Because I can’t drive it. It needs and alignment and exhaust still. Once I get this sorted out it’s going to get both. As for why it sat for a few years, life got in the way.
 
Rat Bastid said:
Why are you not driving it? Stop letting it sit there and idle. Get some load on it before you kill any possibility of decent ring seal. Letting it idle with no load won’t build oil temperature. Get a load on it.
Click to expand...
OP stated ,maiden voyage. the condensate is a plausible theory however my car is in a going together state doesnt get driven and my oil doesnt look like that. i dont remember when i last changed it. In fact i think all the time that I should, but its still clear isnt even black...i suspect its either from flooding or theres a coolant leak into the crankcase. OR the engine was oipened and its brake clean etc etc. however i would thing youd change oil after having the intake off for example.
 
Put a match to a small quantity and see if it ignites quicker than just plain oil. That will tell you if it’s water or gas.
 
Condensate . .
Do you have a PCV hooked up ?
Stop running it for a few minutes, then shutting it off .
If you pull the valve cover, you may find some foam in the cover .
Not getting hot enuff . jmo
 
he'd have to live in a tropical rain forest durnig the day with alaskan winter at night for that much condensate to appear.
 
Good that you checked the oil.
Though oils are different now...just remember the old standard..
"Change every 3 months or 3,000 miles"

Only if the car is in a climate controlled storage can you ignore that. "Heated"

If you use good oil you can double the milage IF you are driving it all the time. ..that's that "heat" thing again...

That aside check the intake manifold for a leak at the cross overs
 
Dartswinger70 said:
its either water or anti freeze, either will do the "chocolate milk" thing to the oil, it wipes bearings also.

anti freeze gets in from a few places, but a common is the intake gasket leaks into the lifter valley, I use silicone around the water ports of the head/intake for many years now because i had this situation happen once. you could pressure test the system, oil drain plug out see if antifreeze comes out the oil pan...
Click to expand...

I have never done a pressure test but when I do it do I keep the coolant in the car or empty it?
 
Fuel does not turn the oil milky like that. That is water either coolant leak or condensation. Is the coolant full still?
 
Tech857 said:
Fuel does not turn the oil milky like that. That is water either coolant leak or condensation. Is the coolant full still?
Click to expand...

I have not lost a noticeable amount of coolant. That paired with the fact that I have zero smoke coming out of the exhaust and zero leaks is what has me slightly hopeful. If this would have happened before I was married I would be looking for every excuse to pull this motor out and build a stroker but of course this happens when funds are low.
 
doogievlg said:
I have never done a pressure test but when I do it do I keep the coolant in the car or empty it?
Click to expand...
keep it in. you could drain the oil, put the oil drain plug back in. pressure test it then take oil plug out and see if any anti freeze comes out.
 
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