[C38] Oil in water problem

Tom T. tdtron at earthlink.net
Wed Jun 2 19:18:33 EDT 2010


Jonathan,

The main cause of water in oil is usually a failure of the oil passage going through the head gasket that feeds the rocker arms in the head.

When this passage fails, oil can go either to the combustion chambers or water passages and sometimes both.  Our engines use an "O" ring in the head gasket to seal the oil passage and that "O" ring should be replaced any time the head is removed.

One other possibility on the 5424 head is there is very little metal between a horizontal oil gallery in the head and the engine water cooling water chamber it passes through.  This thin casting point can be found by following the oil gallery from the pipe plug where the oil gallery was drilled at the end of the head.

With the head off, you can insert air pressure into this oil gallery with the pipe plug removed and listen and look for any air and/or oil escaping into the water jacket area of the head.  I actually had a head fail in this oil passage area many years ago. 

I ground the crack exposing the oil gallery.  I then drilled out the passage making it large enough to accept a machined sleeve I turned on a lathe. I pressed the sleeve into the oil passage with a press fit.  I then heated the entire head to around 700 degrees (I'm guessing) and then I brazed the sleeve through the ground out area exposing it.

When I was finished, the head looked like new except for the brass color of the weld.

That repair was in 1993 and has held ever since.  I had taken the head to a professional head repair shop but they wouldn't attempt it and said I needed a new head.  I had more time and ingenuity than money and I may have been lucky but that repair was a success.

Hopefully you may only need a new "O" ring.


Tom Troncalli
Recovering ex-Catalina 38 owner 
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