[C38] Oil in water problem

[Charles B. Finn]

Jonathan,
Tom's comments remind me of something we routinely did when I was a tool 
and die machinist working for U.S. Steel some 30 years ago.  We detected 
cracks in cast by Magnafluxing, which was done by creating a magnetic 
field and then sprinkling iron filling dust.  Cracks that were virtually 
undetectable through the human eye could be easily seen.  Any machine 
shop should be able to do this.  All you need is a magnetic coil and 
some iron dust.
A second check we did when tearing things down was to look for carbon in 
the cylinders.  Carbon buildup is normal, but the introduction of 
coolant and steam is very good at de-carbonizing, which results in a 
much cleaner cylinder and head area compared to the others.

If you do find a crack....  Tom is right that almost no shop will do the 
repair as this is an "art."  You have to heat and cool cast iron 
uniformly at high temps to prevent stress cracking.   What folks are 
doing instead these days is using something called "JB Weld" which is an 
epoxy.  The stuff actually works for those times when you don't have 
options...  The trick is to make sure the parts to be joined are really 
clean.  I wouldn't guarantee this fix, but when you are out of options, 
you do what you have to!

The atomic 4 engine, which myth says became the atomic diesel and then 
the 5424 is an amazing engine that is perhaps the most long-lived small 
marine engine around  (Universal actually built our engine off a kubota 
block, not the Atomic 4).  We had an early version of the 5424 in our 
Cascade 36 back in the late 70s and it was seriously abused (most of the 
members of my family had no idea where the dipstick was).  I recall we 
replaced the head once and there was an amazing aftermarket for the 
parts (even in pre-internet times).  There was also a large debate 
regarding head gaskets!  We went straight to Universal (now Torrensen) 
for the parts and I recall they sent the O rings with the head....   My 
hazy memory suggests we paid about $500 for the head (the run $2700 from 
Torrensen these days).  What is amazing to me is there is still a market 
for these engines, which speaks to their robustness.

Chuck Finn
Mighty Quinn,  #114
Great Lakes



On 6/2/2010 7:18 PM, Tom T. wrote:
> 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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