Moisture in Crank case

Eric Kropp · Dec 31, 2007

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 · Dec 31, 2007

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 · Dec 31, 2007

Moisture in oil

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 · Dec 31, 2007

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 · Dec 31, 2007

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

Broncodude · Dec 31, 2007

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

Broncodude · Dec 31, 2007

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 · Dec 31, 2007

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 · Dec 31, 2007

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 · Mar 29, 2008

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 · Mar 29, 2008

Did you replace the rings when you did the rebuild?

canadianice · Mar 29, 2008

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?

wildbill23c · Jan 1, 2014

Wow this is an old thread, but I was searching for an answer to this very same problem. The search function actually worked for this.

Glad to know its just a normal issue when the engine isn't ran for very long at a time between stops.

Just want to say thanks for relieving me of a worse problem, and considering the head gaskets were just replaced, timing cover wasn't taken off, just the heads. No coolant is visible, just like the OP, moisture gathers and can be seen on the dipstick, doesn't mix with the oil at all.

Going to try driving it over to Boise here in a couple weeks seemed to clear it up last time. Just around town I'm not driving for long enough to get the engine warmed up long enough to burn off the moisture.

Again thanks to the answers in this old post, makes me feel better knowing its pretty common.

kimcrwbr1 · Jan 2, 2014

I have found if you change the breather filter in the air cleaner housing the snot goes away. If you have excess blowby put in a PCV for a V-8 and change the filter media for the breather cap that way your pulling fresh filtered air into the crankcase and keeping it out of a posative pressure condition. If you dont have the PCV port on the carb just hook it up to the vacuum tree or there is a vacuum port on the back of the EGR spacer under the brake booster hose. Just tee off it so you still have the vapor cannister hooked up.

wildbill23c · Jan 7, 2014

Hmm, ok well the previous owner kind of did a hack job on this thing, so the vapor canister is MIA. The PCV valve is connected to one of the vacuum lines in the back of the carburetor. As far as the breather filter, its brand new, or pretty close to it, anyhow its not hardly dirty. However, the stuff that's in the oil filler cap cover is all nasty, and has always been that way. When I add oil, I can pour moisture out of the oil filler cap WTF. Been this way since I've had it though. No coolant/oil contamination so I know its not the head gaskets again. Oil level goes down, not up so its not pulling fuel or anything into the oil either. This thing is a mystery LOL.

Next time I make a trip out of town I'll drive the B2 over the hill and see if that helps clear out the moisture. If I remember right the first time I drove it out of town and got back home the moisture issue was gone for a while, course with winter here now, its back.

Is this something normal for this engine? I don't remember my 1984 Ford Ranger doing this, but it didn't have a hack job done to the evap system or anything else. Do I need to find an Evap canister and figure out how to get it hooked up?

Moisture in Crank case

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