[Guest]

I walked out Christmas morning and saw that I have water leaking....from under the engine

I just did a heater core and didn't have any anti-freeze at home so there was just water in the radiator because it USUALLY doesn't get below freezing here - except when I forget that there's no coolant in the engine on Christmas Eve.

Anyway, I check the oil and sure enough, there is milky stuff on the dipstick. Not a lot, but the Jeep has not been run since then. The water seems to be coming from around the exhaust manifold. My question is, how do I know what the cause is? I plan to clean up the engine really well and then try to spot the source of the leak. But I guess I will have to pull the head anyway? Anyone have suggestions on this? Thanks.

 

[mbalbritton]

Well... with any luck, your Freeze Plugs popped and saved the engine... but from the sound of your oil milkshake... you may have bigger problems. water isn't gonna get to the oil thru the freeze plugs, so with that said it sounds like you may have cracked your block..... Granted I've never dealt wth this issue personally, I know wbcarver has a good story about the same problem on an old engine of his.....

 

[Guest]

BTT - thanks

 

[Jim_Lou]

The milky stuff suggests that the engine was run with water in the oil. If it just leaked in there quietly it would be clear. Could it be naturally occuring water, and you just need an oil change?

To find the external leak beg, borrow or steal a cooling system tester. It's an air pump with adapters that fit on the radiator filler neck. It allows you to pressurize the system without running the engine. It will exagerate the leak so that you can readily see where it's coming from.

Try it first on the dirty engine. Sometimes the leak path will show up better on the oily mung than on clean paint. If not, you can clean the engine and then look again.

 

[2615]

Sometimes you can remove the radiator cap and turn the engine over to spot a cracked head. The water will surge out when the piston nearest the leak tops out on the compression stroke.

 

[RRich]

Headgaskets don't alway leak to to combustion chamber.

There's potentialy 5 different directions - chamber, oil pressure lines, water jacket, crankcase, or to the outside world.