# water in oil



## novafrog (Oct 3, 2012)

I have a new rebuild 400,first I had lost oil pressure then I rebuild it,put motor back in car,now I have low oil pressure and water in oil,ran car about 2 mins.oil pressure fell to about 5-10 lbs. shut off,and saw water on dipstick,drain oil had water in oil,need help,thanks


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Possible: blown head gasket(s), cracked head(s), cracked block, defective timing cover assembly. Will need teardown to inspect.


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

X2 on all of the above geeteeohguy stated. Some head gaskets have to be installed in a certain up/down facing position. If installed wrong, could leak. I assume you matched all the holes in the head gasket to holes in the block/head where your water passages are to make sure nothing is amiss with the gasket. Nowadays you just can't trust anything.

Check the waterpump/timing chain housing for cracks -could be that. 

A few other questions and considerations would be(and not saying any of this will be your problem but....)

Did you have your heads milled to make sure they were not warped? A warped head could allow a head gasket leak. 

Are you using factory head bolts or aftermarket, like ARP? There are differing lengths between the standard 400 and the Ram Air IV heads. I mistakenly ordered the Ram Air IV ARP bolts on a 400 I built to learn about this one. What happens is a couple of the bolts were too long and would not tighten down. The ARP's require washers under the heads. I was able to double up on the washers and use the longer bolts -but not a recommendation.

It is also possible that one or more of your head bolts are bottoming out because they are too long OR you got some junk in the block holes. Are they factory or aftermarket? Have they ever been replaced? Did you run a tap through them to clean up the threads? Personally, I usually don't myself, I just install them, but that's me. Now if you use any kind of a lubricant on the threads of a head bolt, you can crack a block if you use too much of it(a Pontiac block has the head bolt holes in the block closed off from the water jacket and are called "blind holes" and don't go into any water jackets like other blocks). My machinist stated that "hydralock" can happen where the excess oil/lube goes into the threaded hole in the block, the bolt gets put in and torqued down, and as the oil gets hot from the running engine, it expands, and can produce enough pressure to crack the block -said he has seen a few like that.

If you know your head is not warped, your head gasket is good, then I would check each head bolt hole for debris or something dropped in it that won't allow you to fully tighten the bolt down into the hole. 

Then I would physically measure my head bolts by dropping them through each hole that each bolt will be installed (mark them down and keep them in order) by measuring the amount of bolt stick out (you can get a very inexpensive dial caliper for about $25-$40 General Tools 6 in. Stainless Steel Dial Caliper-107 at The Home Depot) using the depth gauge found at the bottom of the dial caliper. Write the number down. Then insert the depth gauge into each hole that the corresponding head bolt will be bolting into. Write that number down. Now compare the two. Do you have enough head bolt threads sticking out of the head to screw into the block head bolt hole? For example, if the head bolt were sticking out 1/2" and you measured the corresponding bolt hole in the block at 1/2", then the bolt would be too long and bottom out. IF any of your head bolts are bottoming out, you won't be able to pull the head down tight enough EVEN THOUGH you have torqued the bolt correctly. You will not get enough clamping force on the head gasket and you will get water squeezing out and going into your block.

If a head or block is cracked, it may not show up with a visual inspection, you may want to have your parts magnafluxed at a machine shop.

I would look for the obvious and hope it is simply a head gasket, then go from there.:thumbsup:


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## novafrog (Oct 3, 2012)

thanks guys for the info,think I will take it back apart and start over,again thanks


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## CPL (Feb 11, 2016)

If you have a water channel leaking on you tripower manifold would you have water in your oil?
Thanks


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

CPL said:


> If you have a water channel leaking on you tripower manifold would you have water in your oil?
> Thanks


This post is over 3 years old. Gotta assume the problem has been fixed.


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