moist in engine and rising ip level

[richard230sl]

Is there anyone on this forum who is able to help me on the following topic:

My 230SL is running great now after a lot of work I have done the past few years, but 2 thing keeps on bothering me:

1

When I pull my oil dipstick (main sump) out of the car, the stick is white like mayonayse and there is a lot of water drops/moist to be seen on this dipstick.
The car consumes no cooling water (level stays the same around the year), so I think this moist (it is quite a lot) is coming from another source.
When draining engine oil from the sump , the oil looks nice so the water problem can only be seen in the upper regions of the engine and I am expecting it to be damp from the air, collecting in my engine somehow.

Can anyone tell me what I can do about this, or do other people experience the same problem? Is there some way the water from the air is normally filtered out?

By the way: This is a non overhauled engine, the performance of this car is great, head gasket is ok and cooling liquid level stays the same, compression is also good.

2

The fuel injection pump works great now. I have the old type IP with no drainage back from the IP sump to the main sump.
The oil level in the sump of the IP rises in such a speed that I have to drain it a bit once every 2 months (the oil seems to be ok, no water or gasoline in it)
Apart from that, the performance of the IP is wonderfull

Is there a way of clearing this oil rising problem, without overhauling  the complete pump?

Thanks for your comments


Richard
1964 230SL
 

[SilverSpear]

Did you ever wash you engine out? Maybe some water got in from the dipstick top.

The last time I saw "mayonnaise" in an engine car was in our old Mercedes W124 300CE-24V engine. The head got cracked out and everything got mixed up.
If I were you, I would try inspect all water passages that are on the outside of the engine. If nothing appears on the outside, it is time to take out the head from the block and inspect the head gasket and other miniature cracks if present in the engine.

[w113dude]

I would change the oil and filter and see if it happens again.

[richard230sl]

Thanks for your answers untill now.

Please note that I allready changed oil and filters, and this phenomena keeps coming back.
There is no noticable leaking of fluid from the cooling system, so a cracked head or gasket do not seem to be likely to me.

Driving for more then 3 hours in hot weather with the dipstick out of the car solves the problem. But the next shorter ride (and also at colder weather) the phenomena is there again.
Is there anyway air damp -as I suppose it is -can be avoided?

Thanks for commenting

[w113dude]

I ave never heard of this, if the water amount is noticeable then it's not just from moisture water must be coming in from somewhere, have you re-torque the head? just to be sure every thing is tight on the top?

[Benz Dr.]

It's normal in cooler weather and most f it will be purged out when the ngine gets hot enough, so yes, it is common.

 Two questions:
Is your engine running at the correct temperature?
Is the venting pipe going from your valve cover to the air control valve plugged up.

   You may discover a yes to both questions.

  It's not leaking in from coolant source. IP can only be fixed by an overhaul.

[richard230sl]

Thanks for your reply Benz Dr.

My engine operates at normal temperature (about 85 degrees Celsius if I remember it correctly)
On a brief visual inspection earlier, the engine breathing tube seemed ok (some rust and deposit however).
Warned by your remark I will take a closer look to see if the breathing system is blocked
I just had a look at (http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=16512.0) and suspect that I have to check the breathing a bit more closely. Hopefully I will discover a blockade.

Is there a way of washing out the filter on the main dipstick? To make sure breathing on that side is ok?

And once I removed the IP: can I do the overhaul for the oil rising problem part myself? What is the cause inside the IP for this; Are there certain seals in the pump that cause this level rising?
If a complete overhaul is nessecary and I can not do this myselve, I guess I just have to keep draining it once in a while... (pump works fine a part from the level problem)

Thank you

[Benz Dr.]

Those early 230SL's are bad for this problem. They draw a bit of fresh air down the dip stick tube which is where you're probably seeing the problem. It's a combination of cool damp air hitting a warmer surface. The moisture in the air will condensate on the dip stick.

 The seals inside of the pump wear over time and then a small amount of oil and fuel will leak past. Not much you can do except to fix it or keep draining the oil out. Yours is leaking heavily so you might want to save up for a rebuild. This is NOT a job you can do yourself. 

[stickandrudderman]

I concur with Dan. This mayo is reasonably common, especially on cars that only do short infrequent journeys in damp climates.
A long blast up the motorway usually sorts it.
I also agree that the pump should only be messed with by a specialist.

[ja17]

Yes, not that unusual especially if you do a lot of short start ups or short trips. The oil temperature takes much longer than the engine coolant to warm, and depending on your driving style and the outside temperature, you may never get the oil really hot. Hot oil will purge a lot of moisture and contaminates from the engine.

Make sure your vent line from the valve cover to the intake manifold is clear. They can get blocked.

Joe Alexander (ja17)
Blacklick, Ohio