MikeFl4
Active Member
Hi everyone.
I have a 1999 P38 M51 diesel. Have had it for about 5 years now. Its got 232K miles, but I believe the engine has been swapped at some stage as there was an engine number change on the logbook around 2010 (So I cant confirm the mileage on the engine)
Anyways, my question is - The car has been sitting in my garage for a few months, I pulled it outside but at around 2k rpm, the engine had a weird hesitation and a misfire. I assumed that maybe some diesel had got into the oil and was causing it to thin out, causing low oil pressure and maybe one or two hydraulic lifters were not correctly operating. Oil level was on full mark and black (as you would expect on a diesel)
I was going to add in some thicker oil to see if it would solve my problem, but since the level was already full I decided to drain out a little from the sump. To my complete surprise, instead of oil, I drained out about 500ml of water. Its a kind of clear brown/orange ish colour. I put red/pink coolant in to my car but since I've been having a slow leak from the heater core bypass on the engine block (below the thermostat of course, annoying spot to get to) I have been topping it up with water until I got a chance to tackle the job.
At the moment, the coolant expansion tank appears to be completely empty.
Is there any spot in the engine where coolant could potentially get into the sump without it meaning I have a cracked head or failed head gasket?
I honestly cant think of anything, the P38 is one of those vehicles where every system has its own cooling loop (engine oil cooler, gearbox, coolant etc, none of these share the same radiator)
I figure the answer to my question is - cracked head or head gasket failed - Just kind of surprising to me as the car has been driving great, never overheated, if it wasn't for that hesitation, I wouldn't have ever assumed I had so much water in my oil.
I'm also assuming, its not mixed into a milky sludge since the car has been sitting, I took it for a CVRT (Irish MOT) only about 2 months ago and it was a flawless drive there and back (50km round trip with hills etc).
No milky residue or anything on the oil cap either, so it appears the engine was never ran for long enough for water and oil to have mixed. It appears water has trickled down into the oil from somewhere only in the past 2 months when the car was sitting unused?
Only other possibility is that the water has frozen in the block and cracked it, but I don't think this is the case, the engine runs great and always has, its also kept indoors and it honestly hasn't dropped below freezing for about 2 years where I live.
I have a 1999 P38 M51 diesel. Have had it for about 5 years now. Its got 232K miles, but I believe the engine has been swapped at some stage as there was an engine number change on the logbook around 2010 (So I cant confirm the mileage on the engine)
Anyways, my question is - The car has been sitting in my garage for a few months, I pulled it outside but at around 2k rpm, the engine had a weird hesitation and a misfire. I assumed that maybe some diesel had got into the oil and was causing it to thin out, causing low oil pressure and maybe one or two hydraulic lifters were not correctly operating. Oil level was on full mark and black (as you would expect on a diesel)
I was going to add in some thicker oil to see if it would solve my problem, but since the level was already full I decided to drain out a little from the sump. To my complete surprise, instead of oil, I drained out about 500ml of water. Its a kind of clear brown/orange ish colour. I put red/pink coolant in to my car but since I've been having a slow leak from the heater core bypass on the engine block (below the thermostat of course, annoying spot to get to) I have been topping it up with water until I got a chance to tackle the job.
At the moment, the coolant expansion tank appears to be completely empty.
Is there any spot in the engine where coolant could potentially get into the sump without it meaning I have a cracked head or failed head gasket?
I honestly cant think of anything, the P38 is one of those vehicles where every system has its own cooling loop (engine oil cooler, gearbox, coolant etc, none of these share the same radiator)
I figure the answer to my question is - cracked head or head gasket failed - Just kind of surprising to me as the car has been driving great, never overheated, if it wasn't for that hesitation, I wouldn't have ever assumed I had so much water in my oil.
I'm also assuming, its not mixed into a milky sludge since the car has been sitting, I took it for a CVRT (Irish MOT) only about 2 months ago and it was a flawless drive there and back (50km round trip with hills etc).
No milky residue or anything on the oil cap either, so it appears the engine was never ran for long enough for water and oil to have mixed. It appears water has trickled down into the oil from somewhere only in the past 2 months when the car was sitting unused?
Only other possibility is that the water has frozen in the block and cracked it, but I don't think this is the case, the engine runs great and always has, its also kept indoors and it honestly hasn't dropped below freezing for about 2 years where I live.
