VCV13

iTrader: (9)

Hi everyone, I am looking for some opinions.

I just bought a used 6.0L motor, and I suspect it may have a bad head gasket. I changed the valve springs and the cam, installed new seals throughout the engine, filled it with regular oil, and installed the motor. It started right up, and it idles very smoothly. After it warms up the temperature is steady at 210 degrees, and the oil pressure is steady at around 50psi. I had it running for around an hour to an hour and a half, and then drained the oil. This is what I found:



Is this due to coolant mixing with the oil? Would a bad head gasket cause this problem? How much coolant or water would it take to turn the oil this color? I am about to do a compression check. I was informed that the compression was good before I bought the motor, and it is still under warranty. I need to understand what is wrong before the warranty runs out.

I did not really see any smoke coming out of the exhaust. There also does not appear to be any oil in the radiator. I also did not see any bubbles in the coolant. The coolant level did drop, but I wasn't sure if that was due to the engine circulating the coolant for the first time.

Thanks!

RARON455

iTrader: (35)

Thats quite a bit of coolant in the oil to turn that color, is that all the oil, or just a little bit? The drop you are talking about in coolant just sounds like the thermostat opening for the first time and getting full flow thru the engine, thats normal. The only thing I know of that can cause that is a leak into the crankcase somehow, its possible that its a headgasket, the compression check will tell you more, If that checks out, perhaps there is a much bigger problem such as a cracked block or something. Hope it isnt that.

VCV13

iTrader: (9)

Thanks for your reply! That is all of the oil. The bucket it is in is actually 5" or 6" deep. I wasn't able to get to the compression check yesterday, so I am still don't know the status. I certainly hope it is a head gasket!! This is so disappointing because everything else had gone so smoothly, and the first indication of a problem was when I drained the oil.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

I think I would exchange it to be safe. That's not good. Either there was water in the motor and it mixed with the oil or you have coolant getting into the oil, either option is not good. Looks like you will take a loss on the gaskets you replaced.

Inspect the oil in the next engine before you install/freshen up to get some idea of engine condition. Also pop a valve cover off before you take the motor home and look for sludge etc...

O2Form

Doesn't look like coolant to me, looks like water. Its probably from the engine sitting outside over time condesation water builds up in everything. I always flush the oil system in any yard mmotor i buy for this reason. I've seen some motors with huge amounts of condesation water in them.