Emulsified oil in coolant

[dulcibella]

For the last year or more I have noticed that the the plastic top-up coolant reservoir on my Beta 1305 engine was pretty dirty so it was easier to check the level by taking the top off. I took it apart for cleaning last week while changing the coolant, and discovered that the "dirt" was a couple of teaspoonsfull of emulsified oil. I then ran the engine under load for an hour but no oil appeared in the clean coolant. Should I be worried enough to get the cylinder head casket replaced, or could there be a less serious cause for this small level of oil entry into the coolant over the last year or more?

 

[Chris_Robb]

Rather than worry about oil in the water part - is there any water in the oil? You can get emmulsifying around the rocker cover due to condensation, so the presence of gunge is not necessarily a sign of trouble.

I would just watch it carefully before doing anything.

 

[cliff]

Change the coolant, wash the top up bottle and see what happens. If more oil appears in the water then it needs investigation. Initial responce would be the head gasket being at fault but I would phone Beta marine and ask them if there is any other way oil could get into the coolant before ripping the head off.

As for water in teh oil, that can be condensation in the rocker box due to the engine not being allowed to heat up properly before being shut down or from water in teh sump evaporating when the engine is warm and condensing inside the rocker box when the engine cools. If you have both oil in the water and water in the oil then I feel you have one sick engine and really do need to look at the head gasket before it fails completely.
I had a Beta 20hp in my previous boat and never had either water in the oil nor oil in the water. (nor even oil in the bilges)
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“Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity”
Skype id:cliffillupo

 

[Birdseye]

Yes - short of something really stupid like you topping up the water system with oil (which I'm sure you havent done), there can be no reason for oil to be in the water jacket except a leak under pressure. Most likely the head gasket but there can be other causes. And when the engine stops and the oil pressure drops, some of the coolant water still under slight pressure is likely to get into the oil system.

It isnt worth messing around , wasting time. There is likely something wrong that need investigating, and problems are always easier to solve if treated early. Suggest you talk to Beta after checking that the oil is engine oil or diesel or gearbox if that is water cooled.

 

[dulcibella]

Thanks, everybody - all very sensible and helpful. I'll talk to my Beta contact.