[Richard]

I was privately and politely asked about the water theory, and how that could have happened. I felt it was a good challenge, for after all that is a zebra not a horse explanation of the smoke. Some of you may have the same questions that were asked privately.

How do you know it was water? I did two things that I did not write about in the novella installation series. The first is that I put the large oil sample in the freezer overnight. The clear liquid that settled froze hard. I also took the other two possible contaminants, Permatex assembly lube and Lubriplate assembly grease, and dissolved them into clean motor oil to see if they would separate over night. They did not precipitate.

Where was all that water hiding? This is an idea, not proven. On the bottom of the engine block is a 1 inch thick casting with webs that is bolted to the bottom of the block. The casting actually obscures the main bearings. IF, and that’s and IF, the tops of the connecting webs are open, it would be a nice collection point for the water from above.

So how does water in the oil result in steam coming out the exhaust? This is where my Mama’s hard earned money that sent me to Chem Engineering school comes into play. The first step in cleaning up the bores was to wash them down with a Dawn/water mix. As all of us dish washers know that Dawn cuts grease and oil. So, if the water left in the engine has any Dawn left in the catch pockets, then the Dawn helps the water emulsify into the oil. Water doesn’t actually dissolve into oil, it breaks into very small droplets and is suspended. The more surfactant, Dawn, in the water will result in smaller and smaller suspended droplets. When the piston moves up and down, a small amount of oil is smeared onto the cylinder walls. If there is water in that oil, some of it could remain on the cylinder wall. As the engine reaches operating temperature, the water will evaporate into steam. Without the Dawn factor, I don’t think this would have happened.

Now, all of that may be Zebra hooey. For sure, the oil I drained was thinned by something, the viscosity is thinner than new oil, much thinner. A change of oil, changed the smoking behavior instantly.