Moisture in Crank case

[Eric Kropp]

Hi, hope some one can help me. I have a 2.8 that I have recently done some work on. I put a full gasket kit on the engine with the exception of the head gaskets. Now I seem to be getting moisture in the crank case. I shows up on the dip stick and in the dip stick tube. It is never mingled in with the oil like real communication between the cooling and lubrication systems. I just get surface rust at the top of the dip stick and a small gob on the end of the dipstick. Again, the oil is clear and the moisture just seems to collect on the top of the dip stick and slowly meander (?) to the bottom of the stick. I have installed a new PCV and a new breather in the air filter. The PCV system seems to be working fine. There is always the possibility that there is a leak on the gasket when I installed the intake manifold. I also changed the water pump. I don't think there is any chance of communication between the water pump and the crank case is there? I consider my self to be a pretty good parts changer and take my time to get it right the first time...thus I have a little bit of difficulty thinking it is in the intake.....it is some where. I had the engine out of the pickup when I did all the work to it.


Thanks.

Eric <><

[Broncodude]

I just recently rebuilt my 2.8 and I'm pretty familiar with the engine. Did you have the front timing cover off? If so, there's two small sleeves that have to be replaced there. Are you driving it till its totally warmed up to run out the moisture before you turn it off?

moisture suspended in the oil is normal and when it leaves that telltale yellowish foam on the vent pipe or the dipstick lid that is NORMAL. It occurs because the oil was not operated warm enough to evaporate the moisture completely and can also happen in very moist climates where even with a thorough warming up of the oil we can still not rid the oil of all the moisture.

let the engine get nice & warm on runs, especially as not only the oil/moisture situation might improve, but it would also prolong the life of the exhaust system, which can corrode fairly quickly if water in the exhaust isn't boiled off by letting the muffler & pipes get warm enough when the engine's been run.
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[Eric Kropp]

This engine is always warmed up good. Although, I did have the timing cover off and I don't seem to remember any sleeves in the re-installation of the timing cover and water pump. I will take a look in my gasket kit and see if I have any "extras". In the past 17 years I don't ever remember seeing moisture in the oil, which is why I think something is not right.

Thanks for the help.

Eric <><

[Broncodude]

If its a 2.8(not questioning you) it should be like mine. I made mine out of two 11/16 Craftsman sockets which I cut down in length to seal the water pump to the block.
Here's what I posted for the tech site which I sent to the Site Owner..

**When removing and reinstalling the front timing cover there's two water passage sleeves that have to be replaced sometimes. These are actually called "Bushing Water Inl. Cly Block" Ford part#D2RY6178.B These have been discontinued by Ford. There's only 10 dealers in the U.S.A. that have some. And that is only a total of 23 sleeves. They can be made out of steel if your really hand in the shop.

I'm not saying this is your problem, but I couldn't remove my old sleeves without distroying them, and locally I couldn't find them. So I made them. I didn't know if they would seal, but if they did I knew they would outlast the factory ones. I would use a radiator pressure tester and see what you get on pressure loss.

[Broncodude]

FYI, These sleeves are NOT in any rebuild kit. I used a master kit, and searched but no luck.

[Broncodude]

I never did really understand the total idea behind the sleeves, but I figured they were there for a reason.

[Broncodude]

If you search for "need some help here??" my post shows a pic of where the sleeve goes. It probably keeps the O ring from slipping??

[Eric Kropp]

I am slowly remembering something about these. Seems mine may have been deteriorated a bit. Was there and o-ring or something that goes on over it?

Eric

[Broncodude]

It was a flat gasket kind of like a washer on a hose. Mine slipped over the socket which was a real tight fit. I permetexed the flat gasket and then put it together.

[canadianice]

I now have developed this same problem after a recent mild rebuild where I replaced all the engine gaskets. I have a lot of moisture flying out of my engine crank case. Its not mixing with the oil but as soon as I remove the oil dip stick I can see the engine steaming moisture out. I just redid my intake manifold gasket thinking it was the problem. I also used silicone in selected areas around coolant passages just to be sure. I just had my oil changed after I torqued down the intake bolts after it warmed up so we will see if the steaming problem continues. I have done the engine cover multiple times to be a pro at it but i have never replaced the old guide sleeves for the water pump. Could that be the problem?

[Hotrodlincoln]

Did you replace the rings when you did the rebuild?

[canadianice]

Yeah I used new rubber O-rings when I redid the gasket. Also When I did my Duraspark upgrade the motorcraft 2150 doesn't have a pcv valve nipple. So would this cause any issues?