1 reply to this topic

[TerryLee]

Hi , I am new to the site, of a fair age and have gone "mini mad" later in life! I love them.
Have a 1990 Saloon with a 998cc engine, single HS4 carb, and it is stock standard.
Its a "barn find" and I am slowly doing it up, I've stripped the engine bay,and have got it back together again.
The radiator water was very discoloured with rust and it has taken many flush's, using the hose both ways on heater pipes. 

I have a problem with water in the oil. I got it started, the oil was perfect and it ran fine.(timing,tappets etc done) 
Once it was at operating temperature it started to run erratically and there is a heap of water in the oil.

I compression tested it and originally it was (starting at cylinder 1) 170,185,160,170 lbs/inch. I've tested it again now that there is water in the oil and it reads 150,160,155,155.
The water in the radiator looks fine and did the rubber glove test, and there is no back pressure in the radiator and the water doesn't seem to drop.

Spark plugs look fine, brownish black and no sign of deposits.

What do you think? Is it just a head gasket or possibly a cracked head or block ?

How could the water jacket leak into the oil jacket without getting pressure from one of the cylinders?
Any help appreciated.

 

 

https://www.dropbox....t=pup92rip&dl=0

https://www.dropbox....t=d9azrfon&dl=0

https://www.dropbox....qbvwdyvm0z&dl=0

https://www.dropbox....xxry3biofy&dl=0

 

 

 

Edited by TerryLee, Yesterday, 11:00 PM.

[Spider]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

 

Given the car's history and the checks you've done, it could be just condensate in the crankcase.

 

Perhaps drop the oil and filter, get yourself some cheap oil, say a 15W40 or even a 10W30 for a diesel engine. Run that through a couple of heat cycles, then see what it looks like. If it's cleaning up, then dump that, get a decent oil and an filter, change it out, then do a decent run of a say a hundred miles, do another change, then you should be right as per normal service schedules.