F20 water in oil

Daninsc

Member
I got a 38 f 20 I bought Halfway through rebuild, the head was cleaned and checked, I pu it back together, torque per book, used copper spray on head gasket. It runs great but getting a lot of water in oil, I can hear it in the exhaust. Is it just a bad gasket, or what else can it be?
 
F-20's used wet sleeves, you could have a pin hole in the sleeve where it has rusted thru. You could check by removing head and fill block with water and watch for any leaking water coming on top of piston. Water could also leak into the oil from the bottom of the sleeve if the O-ring seal is bad.
 
It could also be a bad ring around the bottom of the sleeve.

I would take off the side covers (the ones that look like a radiator cap) and let it sit for a few days. Then use a flashlight to look aroung in the top of the crankcase to see it you can trace the water to its source.
 
If you are getting water in the oil in an F-20 about the only place it can be coming from is past the sleeve o-ring.Could be a cracked block but most likely o-ring. Did you have the sleeves out ? Any water from head gasket or cracked head is unlikely to get in the oil, unless you get a lot in the cylinder and some trickles past the rings.As said before, just take the inspection covers off and look around the bottoms of the sleeves with a mirror and you will probably find the leak.
 
(quoted from post at 21:16:12 02/22/13) I didn't take them out, I hadn't looked in my Manuel but are they hard to replace?



they're a ton of fun. pull the head, then pull th eoil pan and drop the pistons out the bottom of the sleeve. if its 4 inch bore they will just squeez out the top, then get a sleeve puller and pull them all out. its alot of work for a 5 dollar o-ring
 
I wouldn't worry about what it is at this point. First I'd try some heavy duty stop leak. I have good luck with the aluminum powder sealer. And it's cheap. If you can't stop it that way, Then you tear it apart and find the leak. Good luck.
 
Yes, that is possible. Happened on my F30. Antifreeze in oil until I installed a composite type gasket. Cured the problem. I'd stay away from the metal gaskets. I have never had any luck with them sealing. Others may have.
 
it depends, all of them I have removed have been stuck like a son of a gun. I have a sleeve puller and usually I have to tighten the nut on the puller as tight as I can get it and then hit the bottom plate with an air hammer to get them to pop loose.
 
I agree with Nebraska Cowman. Put a couple cans/jars of stop leak in the radiator. Then replace the contaminated oil and run it for a couple of hours. That should get the stop-leak circulated throughout the motor.
 
The rings at the base of the sleeves are a good suspect here. The problem though may actually be the sleeves. The seal area is at the bottom of the block and all of the crud, rust mainly piles up in that area and stays wet. Results in a heavy corrosion ring around the sleeve just above the seal. In time it will work it's way down to the seal surface on the sleeve. It's a real problem with older southern tractors where they never used antifreeze or corrosion inhibitors.
 
Agreed, iv'e had several that were even rusted through at the exhaust ports and never noticed until too late.
 

Get your check book ready. Replacing the Orings isn't for the inexperienced mechanic. Stop leak might do it, but if you hear it in the exhaust, then you have a major problem.
 

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