| Water in the Oil ... How can it get there?
My 4.9L has water in the oil after thousands of miles of overheating and coolant loss.
I thought it had bad head gaskets. Alas they look tired but good - now that I have the heads off and in my hands. I read a post about the intake manifold gaskets causing this trouble but I went back and looked at them again - this time much more closely and they looked pretty good too ... especially since they have run for 130,000 miles. The mating faces on the heads and intake did not show any erosion/corrosion problems. I wondered about the radiator but I don't really believe that my new radiator failed. I ask myself what else separates water from the oil and I only come up with the cylinder sleeves.
As I write this I wonder about the front separator plate that covers the timing chain and gears and mounts the water pump. I did replace all those items about 10,000- 15000 miles back. Since then, I changed the water pump again in the last 5-7000 miles. It too could be a problem. That piece of tin cost me $100.
I welcome advice on how to clean gasket surfaces of parts without using Scotch Brite type materials.
This car has had a chronic overheating problem for over 100,000 miles and it has had 4 water pumps in the last 2 years. Funny the engine overheated but there was no winter time heat in the car or early morning defroster but the air conditioning worked fine on moderately hot days.
Could someone tell me about the sleeves and how to work with them as I have the heads off and am ready for the next step.
Any help or advice appreciated as I am stranded 2500 miles from home.
Also I wonder if anyone has made a special tool to clean the head bolt holes of debris ... especially since the outer ones are open to the elements and my engine was covered with Southern California desert sand when I started working on it. I just know that some of that saand and dirt got into the wrong areas.
Mistakes I made ...
1. Not doing a compression test/ cylinder leakage test as I couldn't figure out how to access the back cylinders. From experience I know I can reach the back cylinders by unbolting the back of the engine/tranny cradle and letting the engine hang down. That is what I had to do to reinstall the harmonic balancer when I installed the new front cover plate.
2. Not persisting in trying to find cylinder leak detection fluid. I did find a small and very affordable neon type UV light at one midwestern Walmart for $10-$15 if I remember correctly. It might have also been at a truck stop that I saw it.
Thanks for any help. When I am running again I will put together a procedure for dealing with this problem that leads to a sucessful conclusion with the least number of wrong choices. Since I don't know what my problem is and I have the engine torn apart I am at present very unhappy. Being 2500 miles away from my tools and resources is a bit of a handicap too. Fortunately the folks here in Coffee Springs, Alabama have been wonderful.
MY present game plan ...
#1 check and clean all parts getting them ready for reassembly.
a. Air check the heads with an air gun and a dish soap/ water mixture to make sure my valves are seating properly. I am not a fan of head resurfacing so I will try to avoid that step. Since I have access to an old valve spring compressor I might even take my heads apart and look at them more closely.
b. Get an old inner tube and try to make a tool to air check the water passages in the heads and the intake manifold.
c. Study the engine and think of other possible causes or ways that coolant water can get into the oil.
d. My ignorance of the cylinder sleeves makes me reluctant to mess with them.
e. Make a tool out of a hose, tubing or some straws to clean the block head bolt threads with air or a vaccuum or both.
f. Repair the plastic shielding that is supposed to protect the wiring harness but which on my car is very brittle and has fallen apart from the Southern California desert heat. I worked on an old Ford Crown Victoria recently back home and its plastic shielding looked new because Ford had wrapped it in electrical tape. I am going to do the same thing to my Caddy since the haarness is all out in the open and my wiring harness is badly in need of repair/protection.
g. For the same reason - easy access with the motor torn apart - I am going to replace all the hoses. My rubber EGR hose fitting was so brittle it broke when I removed it from the throttle body. The heater hoses feel shabby too.
#2. Pray to the Good Lord, and hope that I come up with some answers very quickly, before I am forced to put it all back together hoping that I have fixed all its problems even in my ignorance. If I can't fix it I will be forced to leave my beautiful car in Coffee Springs and fly home without being able to finish my extended trip. | 
