Water in oil after rebuilding cylinderhead-please help! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Meza · #1 06-29-2003, 11:58 PM

I rebuilt the cylinderhead in my 93 190e 2.6L. The car started within 2 seconds and idled great as before the vlave job. I drove it for about 50 miles and it had plenty of power and was smooth. The next day I drove to the gas station to put gas. Drove then to work. Eight hours later when I started the car, it hesistated and it had rough idle. I said water in the gas from the gas station. Put some heat in the gas tank. Once I take off it drove fine. At home I checked the vacuum, spark plugs,...etc. couldn't find anything. At night I drove another 20 miles and when I got to my distination, I noticed the temp gage at the blue line below the red on the temp gage. Pulled over immediately. Let it cool. Re-started and still had that slight miss, however, temp was fine now. I assumed an ignition problem. At 2:00 am going home the temp was rising in no time so I decided to stop and tow it home. While waiting on the tow truck, I checked the coolant and couldn't see anything in the resevoir. Nothing under the car. Pulled the oil dipstick and it had traces of water (I did not add antifreeze after the rebuild, but water with a flush kit to clean the cooling passages and rediater). went back in the car and pulled a cigarette and took a deep drag. Today, I pulled the head out and there's a little bit of water in the cylinders. The head will go to the machine shop to check for cracks and so on.. What I need to know is, how to remove the water that mixed with the oil. I drained the water and oil completely and yes the oil was milky. I did a compression check before I pulled the head and all cylinders had either 160 or 165 psi. I vacuumed all the water out of the cylinders and filled them with oil to keep from rusting. Any suggestions on a product to flush all the H2O in the oil? I know there is a product to remove oil in coolant?

PS> The water side was clear and did not have any oil it?
Is it possible the head wasn't torqued properly. The head gasket looked fine. I must mention, after the head job, the temp was going up and couldn't bleed it. I finally pressurized the system and it was holding pressure good, however, the cap wasn't. I got a new one and temp was normal afterwards.
Meza

#2 06-30-2003, 07:41 AM

Make sure that the machine shop pressure tests the head. They will corrode between water jacket and combustion chamber.

I've been there, done that with getting oil and water out. I simply went to Wal Mart and got cheap oil filters, about three of them along with a few cases of cheap 30W oil. Upon reassembling the engine I put on a filter and filled with the cheap oil. I started the engine and ran it about five minutes and changed the oil and filter. I then started it and drove it about 10 miles to heat up the oil then changed oil and filter again. I then drove it to work and back (a 178 mile round trip,) and then drained oil overnight and put in my regular filter and oil. That was about 80,000 miles ago and all's well now.

Good luck,

stevebfl · #3 06-30-2003, 07:53 AM

Water in the oil is easy. Oil in the water is not. other than changing the oil I see no need to take special treatment for the water. it will evaporate/boil off during driving once the source is plugged.

Meza · #4 06-30-2003, 10:50 AM

Just another question. I see light traces of rust in the cylinders. I put oil over them and rubbed them with my hand. Would these traces of rust cause a problem after the head is back on?
I was planning on driving from South Carolina to Chicago with the car this coming Friday and I am glad it happened while I am still here is SC. I am glad I did not let the wife drive it (it's her car) after the head job. I guess will be taking the Bimmer to chicago.
Meza

#5 06-30-2003, 07:28 PM

When the head corroded through on my 300E I was in the middle of several multi week trips to Europe. As a result the engine sat for a few months total while I was getting the head back and getting time to put it back together. Some pretty serious rust on cylinder walls resulted. I cleaned up with an oily rag as best I could and put the head on.

After going through the oil change regiment that I described earlier all was well. It runs great and uses no oil at all that I can tell.

Good luck,

Meza · #6 07-01-2003, 11:58 PM

Thanks God there were no cracks. It was pressure tested at 40 psi and no leaks. However, it was a little worped in the middle. The machinest checked worpage infront of me with a 0.005 inch feeler gage and it went through the middle of the head. He measured it and checked specs for machining and said I have plenty left to remove. He was very concerned and helpful. I noticed the surafce has a mirror like finish as if it was lapped. The surface finish done by the first machine shop last week did not look as good. As a matter of fact, the milling head marks can be seen. I should've known better as I look at finished surfaces at work almost everyday (Plunger's surface finish) in Diesel fuel injectors. I just didn't know how smooth the surface should be in a cylinderhead!
My biggest worry is my engine block. I hope I did not cook it. I ran my finger across the drained oil mixed with water to have a feeling of the viscosity when compared to new oil. The oil was fresh after I put the head back before the overheat problem. I am tempeted to take a sample to work and have it analyzed in the chem lab to see how much water was there. I hope everthing will be fine.
I got a new torque wrench and checked the calibration myself at work. I had set it at 70 Nm and I recorded 70.25 Nm on the digital readout screen. Can't get better than that. I got a straight edge and checked flatness down to the microns. I tested the top of my block and couldn't fit 0.002 in feeler gage in all direction.
Do you guys think I could drive the car from SC to Chicago after everything is back? I will have it back thursday night and drive on Saturady.
Thanks,
Meza

#7 07-02-2003, 06:27 AM

There can be quite a bit of water in the oil and it still will lubricate. As long as it is not run for a long period of time or under heavy load, I don't think that will hurt much. As I said there was LOTS of water in my oil and that engine has gone about 80,000 miles since then and uses NO oil.

Yes, I think you can get it back together in an eight hour day. Given the oil situation though make sure you go through several cycles of oil change with cheap oil and filter, then put in a premium filter and your favorite oil for the trip.

I would make hard, firm plans for that trip though because you never know what you're going to run into. You might end up needing a part, or something. Don't take any chances or cut any corners just so you can make your trip. Doing that would be short term thinking with long term consequences.

Good luck,