Panicked, What would you do?

[Luckyman01]

My 2000 S has 130K on her, I have owned her for 20 years and have always done my best to keep her in NO EXCUSES condition.

After driving about 120 miles to town she dumped her coolant on the street. In my panic I put coolant in the crankcase. Additional panic and I has her towed to Sunset Porsche in Beaverton.

They drained and added coolant and pressure tested the cooling system and could not find leak, they think they need to run the engine longer to find leak.

Now to the oil issue. They drained and refilled oil 3 times and it is still a "bit milky". My recommended choices;

1) cycle at least two more oil swaps, see hat happens at $1K
2) Remove and disassemble clean and inspect motor foe $20K
3) Remove and install a NEW motor at $23K

Or I could just go get her and tow her home and keep flushing with oil. ( the cooling system leak would still need addressing.


The >$20K fixes are not really available to me.

David

[JFP in PA]

You need to get all the coolant flushed out of the oil system as soon as possible; normally oiled surfaces do not react well to the presence of coolant.

[Luckyman01]

Well she is at Sunset Porsche in Beaverton Oregon. They have filled and flushed a number of times and reporting still a bit of milk appearance.

Their solution is new motor, I just cant do that as an old guy.

I might have it towed to an indy or tow it home for more flushes.

It might just get pushed to the back of the barn. I am still going through tough times on this one.

David.

[spinjockey]

How about adding marvel mystery oil to help dry out the crank? Do this for a couple of consecutive changes with a generic 5w40 oil.

[clueless1]

Originally Posted by Luckyman01

Their solution is new motor, I just cant do that as an old guy.

David.

It’s not clear to me what problem they are trying to solve?

The milky oil is from the coolant. The coolant inadvertently went into the crankcase. Coolant in the oil is potentially bad for the engine.

I’m with the story this far.

It’s the next part … you have high cholesterol and we couldn’t get rid of it completely and that can lead to bad things … so let’s do a heart transplant … this is the part that I’m not entirely getting.

Doesn’t one typically wait for the catastrophic engine failure to actually happen before replacing the engine?

Is there some other problem related to the *initial* problem you had that indicates a catastrophic failure?

If not then just do repeated oil swaps every few hundred miles … use cheap oil and filters, consider adding some seafoam — used for gas and may help remove a bit of water/coolant from the oil, couldn’t hurt but there is so little isopropyl in it that it’s likely just a placebo.

This is not the first time a crankcase has been contaminated with coolant … it’s head gasket 101 … and I was always taught just do some repeated, short interval, cheap oil changes.

[Frodo]

I say go with #1 choice in your original post. As Clueless indicated, what’s to lose? Why do either of the other two unless you’re sure this engine has crapped out altogether (or will do so)?

I had my water pump go on my Box, with maybe 40% of the impeller blade material chewed up and, presumably, floating around in the cooling system. Jake Raby, et al, had me convinced I’d be screwed when one or more of those pieces got lodged somewhere unfortunate, creating hot spot(s) and wreaking havoc. I tried flushing the system, running everything that came out through a sieve—never recovered a single piece. Replaced the coolant and drove her. That was 58K miles ago, she still runs like a champ.

I don’t know how old “old” is, but consider changing the oil yourself. It’s easy, and you can do it for under $100 a pop..

[flmont]

( Maybe ) drain the oil,fill engine with a safe solvent or a 50/50 mix pull fuel pump fuse,..crank the engine over drain and repeat,..How much coolant did you add ..? Or if its just a little milky stay with the first suggestion, a couple more oil changes it may clear it up..I feel for you.. good luck Frank

[clueless1]

Originally Posted by flmont

( Maybe ) drain the oil,fill engine with a safe solvent or a 50/50 mix pull fuel pump fuse,..crank the engine over drain and repeat,..How much coolant did you add ..? Or if its just a little milky stay with the first suggestion, a couple more oil changes it may clear it up..I feel for you.. good luck Frank

I would not even use stronger additives like B12 additive in engine oil for fear of impacting seals.

…And I have to add, for emphasis, that $1000 for an oil change makes me want to change careers: How do I get in on that action? Is that Argentinian dollars? All things considered I vote your first step, and one that will continue to pay off long after this blip is just a distant memory, should be to high tail it outta there and find yourself a reliable Indy.

[Luckyman01]

Well. $1000 for 2 oil changes, I assume plus refill after that, still good money to the dealer.

After a week of sulking and cursing myself, I am having her towed home and will try a couple more flushes.

Any one aware of a chemical I should use to help with the water?

[Lowski]

Take a look at this thread about a 986 flood car, specifically post #108. 78F350 ended up having to drop the sump plate to get water out of the engine oil. Something to consider if repetitive oil changes aren’t doing the trick.

The Houston 04 SE

[Homeoboxter]

Why did the car dump the coolant on the road in the first place? Was the source of the leak identified? Is it possible that the oil and coolat are still mixing up, hence the unsuccessful flushes?

If nothing works out I'd use something that mixes both with oil and water, like ethanol. If you wanna go crazy you can modify a factory oil pump and circulate the mixture in the engine without rotating anything else in the engine to prevent bearing failure. But I think several flush cycles with cheap engine oil should do it, too. And pull the sump for ckeaning, as suggested. I definitely wouldn't just replace the engine as they suggested, lol.

[78F350]

Originally Posted by Lowski

Take a look at this thread about a 986 flood car, specifically post #108. 78F350 ended up having to drop the sump plate to get water out of the engine oil. Something to consider if repetitive oil changes aren’t doing the trick.

The Houston 04 SE

I actually drove that one to work tonight. It still has the cleanest oil changes out of all my cars.


Dropping the sump plate does sound like a good idea. Residue will get trapped there and with the plate off, there is access to much of the internal engine for inspection and cleaning.

My biggest concern with the engines specifically in the 2000 model year S models is cracked heads. I have had one and read and heard of it happening many more times to that particular year than any other. Good news that Sunset pressure tested the cooling system and didn't find a leak.

If it was my car:
Drop the sump, clean what can be cleaned until spotless (including removing and reinstalling the plastics).
Run it for a short time with a good, but less expensive oil (Rotella T6 5W-40).
Check the oil for intermix at the filter.
Clean? Run it twice as long and check it again. Repeat until confident.
Intermix? Note the extent - keep the sample/take a pic. Drain and refill. Run check, compare.

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by 78F350

I actually drove that one to work tonight. It still has the cleanest oil changes out of all my cars.

That is a really nice car!

[Luckyman01]

I am hauling her home, will do a number of flushes and see how it goes.

By old guy, I mean tat 70 is in the rear view window..

I did not mean to say I could not come up with 23K, just cannot see the justification for a new motor.

I will update later!

David