Engine flush
 

Just had headgasket done on my E30 316 and all appears ok driving , was
told though to keep an eye on the oil and water levels just to make sure
Had a look yesterday after having te car back for a day and the water is
ok , but the oil looks like milky coffee and seemed rather a lot in ,
rang the garage ( my Uncle ) and said it would be like this for a bit
until the engine burns the water off !! just keep checking it

Thought it would be best to do a full engine flush this weekend , whats
the best way to get rid of all the gunk out of it ????

Cheers !
Phill

"Phill" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> Just had headgasket done on my E30 316 and all appears ok driving , was
> told though to keep an eye on the oil and water levels just to make sure
> Had a look yesterday after having te car back for a day and the water is
> ok , but the oil looks like milky coffee and seemed rather a lot in ,
> rang the garage ( my Uncle ) and said it would be like this for a bit
> until the engine burns the water off !! just keep checking it
>
> Thought it would be best to do a full engine flush this weekend , whats
> the best way to get rid of all the gunk out of it ????

Sounds like whoever replaced the head gasket, allowed a quite a lot of water
to spill into the sump. You need more than a few dribbles of water to
emulsify a sump full of oil
I wouldn't advise using a flushing oil, especially on an older engine.
Flushing oils can release all sorts of crap in an engine, with the potential
to block small oilways. Better to leave it where it is, where it can't do
any damage.
My advice is simply to give it another oil and filter change. It'll get rid
of the emulsified oil, and should give you a reasonably clean engine.
Mike.

"Phill" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> Just had headgasket done on my E30 316 and all appears ok driving , was
> told though to keep an eye on the oil and water levels just to make sure
> Had a look yesterday after having te car back for a day and the water is
> ok , but the oil looks like milky coffee and seemed rather a lot in ,
> rang the garage ( my Uncle ) and said it would be like this for a bit
> until the engine burns the water off !! just keep checking it
>
> Thought it would be best to do a full engine flush this weekend , whats
> the best way to get rid of all the gunk out of it ????
>
> Cheers !
> Phill

It sounds like all you need is an oil change.

My guess is that coolant flowed into the crankcase during the service work.
Your Uncle probably should have drained the oil for you, but it sounds like
they did not. You need to hope they did not because if they did and you
already have coolant mixed in, then you still have head gasket problems, or
a cracked block.

In article >,
says...

They said they had changed the oil 3 times , if they did or not is a
different matter , will do another oil and filter change and see what
happens

Will let you know

Phill

>
> "Phill" > wrote in message
> .. .
> >
> > Just had headgasket done on my E30 316 and all appears ok driving , was
> > told though to keep an eye on the oil and water levels just to make sure
> > Had a look yesterday after having te car back for a day and the water is
> > ok , but the oil looks like milky coffee and seemed rather a lot in ,
> > rang the garage ( my Uncle ) and said it would be like this for a bit
> > until the engine burns the water off !! just keep checking it
> >
> > Thought it would be best to do a full engine flush this weekend , whats
> > the best way to get rid of all the gunk out of it ????
> >
> > Cheers !
> > Phill
>
> It sounds like all you need is an oil change.
>
> My guess is that coolant flowed into the crankcase during the service work.
> Your Uncle probably should have drained the oil for you, but it sounds like
> they did not. You need to hope they did not because if they did and you
> already have coolant mixed in, then you still have head gasket problems, or
> a cracked block.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

> Had a look yesterday after having te car back for a day and the water is
> ok , but the oil looks like milky coffee

Or like mayo ;-)

You don't say how much you drove the car, if the engine reached full
operating temperature etc.

Personally I'd just take the car for a couple of *long* runs, get the oil
up to temperature to get the water boiled out. From experience with my E30
(and other cars) I'd suggest anything less than 10 miles won't get the oil
hot enough and the mayo will stay or reappear.

I wouldn't flush the engine. That was stuff that my old dad used to do in
the bad old days - Shouldn't be necessary today!

Al.

If you change the oil, check it regularly, every few hours of operation, to
see if it turns milky again. If it does, you still have problems. Also, if
you check the oil while the motor is running, it should have bubbles on the
stick if there is water or coolant in the crankcase.




"Phill" > wrote in message
.. .
> In article >,
> says...
>
> They said they had changed the oil 3 times , if they did or not is a
> different matter , will do another oil and filter change and see what
> happens
>
> Will let you know
>
> Phill
>
> >
> > "Phill" > wrote in message
> > .. .
> > >
> > > Just had headgasket done on my E30 316 and all appears ok driving ,
was
> > > told though to keep an eye on the oil and water levels just to make
sure
> > > Had a look yesterday after having te car back for a day and the water
is
> > > ok , but the oil looks like milky coffee and seemed rather a lot in ,
> > > rang the garage ( my Uncle ) and said it would be like this for a bit
> > > until the engine burns the water off !! just keep checking it
> > >
> > > Thought it would be best to do a full engine flush this weekend ,
whats
> > > the best way to get rid of all the gunk out of it ????
> > >
> > > Cheers !
> > > Phill
> >
> > It sounds like all you need is an oil change.
> >
> > My guess is that coolant flowed into the crankcase during the service
work.
> > Your Uncle probably should have drained the oil for you, but it sounds
like
> > they did not. You need to hope they did not because if they did and you
> > already have coolant mixed in, then you still have head gasket problems,
or
> > a cracked block.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >

> I wouldn't flush the engine. That was stuff that my old dad used to do in
> the bad old days - Shouldn't be necessary today!

I used to have a newish E36 318iS. When I was still having it serviced
at the dealer I was billed for a flush every other oil change.

--
Who needs a life when you've got Unix? :-)
Email: , John G.Burns B.Eng, Bonny Scotland
Web : http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk - The Ultimate BMW Homepage!
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You can get a brown/frothy appearance to oil if too much oil is in the
system. This lets the crank whip the oil to a froth (with air) and that
looks a lot like an oil/water emulsion. Can scare the heck out of you with
worries about cracked block.


"Phill" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> Just had headgasket done on my E30 316 and all appears ok driving , was
> told though to keep an eye on the oil and water levels just to make sure
> Had a look yesterday after having te car back for a day and the water is
> ok , but the oil looks like milky coffee and seemed rather a lot in ,
> rang the garage ( my Uncle ) and said it would be like this for a bit
> until the engine burns the water off !! just keep checking it
>
> Thought it would be best to do a full engine flush this weekend , whats
> the best way to get rid of all the gunk out of it ????
>
> Cheers !
> Phill

In article >,
Phill > wrote:
> They said they had changed the oil 3 times , if they did or not is a
> different matter , will do another oil and filter change and see what
> happens

Oh dear. Changing the oil properly once should get rid of all the nasties.
If it's still showing signs of water, it's getting in somewhere.

--
*I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.