2010 Challenger 180 SE 255hp - Water/Coolant in oil - HELP!!!

[AlbertaDooGuy]

So...First time out after storing the boat for the winter.

I gave everything a once over before heading to the lake, everything looked good. Coolant and Oil levels all normal. Plugs and air filter all checked out ok as well.

Anyhow, got the boat out on the lake and everything seemed ok. Loaded up and started leaving the dock area and sucked something into the impeller. It shook the boat. I blipped the throttle a couple times and that seemed to have cleaned it out as the vibration went away.

Left the no wake are and started laying into the boat. I noticed it felt pretty low on power and it wouldn't pull beyond 6000rpm. It was steady at 4000rpm but as soon as I gave it more throttle it would surge from 4000 to 6000 and wouldn't really gain any speed. It also smelled like it was running very rich (Black soot around the exhaust exit)

Limped the boat back to the dock and started checking things out. Plugs looked fine. Coolant level looked normal. As soon as I pulled the oil dipstick I found milky oil and it was well beyond the fell level.

I sucked the oil out today and ran 5 litres of oil through it while removing it as I went. It's still fairly milky and I'm at a loss as to where the water/coolant may be coming from.

Has anyone encountered a similar issue with their 4-Tec? Any and all help is much appreciated.

 

[rcguy]

I could be many things that allow coolant to enter your oil system. My first guess would be a blown head gasket.

 

[pete63]

have a think about how the engine was flushed for storage or before your run.

Engine must be running before water and water OFF before engine OFF.
you need to change oil/filter and run engine to get as water out as possible. search the forum here, there is heaps of threads on water in oil. better check your filter to see if it has collapsed from the water ingestion.

otherwise could be a few different things including as rcguy says.

 

[devonte007]

You stated that the coolant level was normal, so I doubt your water ingestion issue was from that system. More likely water entered crankcase from the exhaust cooling system which uses raw water.

As others here have mentioned it could have been from improperly winterizing, or running the engine on the hose improperly. Could also be a busted intercooler, which would cause the engine to ingest water as it is running.

First thing is to get all that milky oil out with several oil changes, running the engine for a couple minutes in between each change until you are sure all the water is out. Failure to do this asap will spell disaster for your engine as it is rusting internally as we speak.

I would also change the spark plugs even though they "look good".

Next start to diagnose where the water is entering the engine.

 

[Coastiejoe]

If it is water and not coolant, then you pretty much need to change the oil, run it, change the oil, run it, and probably change the oil again. Filters too as the water gets trapped and they collapse. Then, do NOT hook it up to the hose. Go for a ride on the water. Do NOT over fill with oil as you will lose performance as you noted. Then, check the oil and see if you water back in the oil. I would mark the coolant bottle as well before you start all of this to confirm it does. It lower.


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[AlbertaDooGuy]

Hey and thanks for the replies. I've drained as much of the contaminated oil as I can and I've got a fresh filter and oil in the boat now.

As far as the back flushing with a hose is concerned, I've never done that as I only take the boat on fresh water here in Canada. So the contamination isn't from that.

As best I can tell it came from actually running the boat on the water. I've inspected the intercooler and don't see any traces of water in that area.

Assuming it is indeed lake water, what other locations should I check for the contamination? I don't see how the exhaust could be causing it, due to the fact that the boat was running and under load when the water got into the oil.

Does any water actually pass though the coolant system pump? I've looked over the service manual, but can't seem to trace exactly where the lake water is circulated through the boat for cooling.

Once I get a chance, I'll get it back out on the lake (I've marked the coolant level) and see what happens, but I'm afraid that it'll happen again.

Would improper winterization cause a failing where water can get into the oil? As best I can recall, I went through the proper blow down procedure to clean the exhaust and intercooler of water, but maybe it wasn't enough?

I pulled the intercooler and it has a leak between the water and air sides, looks like that may be the cause of the water... I'll have to be more resilient about winter servicing...

 

[devonte007]

Sounds like you found the problem. I have heard of the intercoolers going bad just on their own or due to age or salt water. Since your boat is relatively new and you drive in fresh water it is more likely improper winterization and residual water freezing inside caused the leak.

Although blowing out the exhaust cooling system with air usually works, I am not 100% confident it will get all the water out. Therefore, most of us pump in RV antifreeze at the end of the year through the exhaust cooling system. This is really the only way to be sure you get all the raw water out and replace it with a liquid that will not freeze and bust up your engine. Very simple to do and does not take much time at all.