Water in the sump

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

What would be the likely outcome, mechanically speaking, if a couple of litres of water were put into the oil sump, rather than the header tank?

My mate did this the other day, and asked my opinion, as he was worried about telling the manager, and was curious as to whether he should just drive it and say nothing.

But apart from telling him that it will mix with whatever oil is in there, and form a sludge, depending on the mix ratio, I was unable to tell him exactly how serious, or not, it was. But it got me thinking, exactly how serious is it?

For your information, he drove it, and it is still running today, 3 days later. But I’m worried about getting it myself, and the engine seizing while I’m driving it, and then getting the blame for something or other. THe last thing I will do is drop my mate in it.

2

depends on how much water is in the oil…has the oil gone all milky if so report that there is water in the oil :wink: at least that way u wont drop mate into it…if its still oiley then it may be ok as the water will boil off as long as not to much is in it

3

One thing is for certain - if youre mate owned up and told the boss before the truck was driven again then all that was needed was an oil and filter change.

If the water emulsifies the oil then it will cease to be an effective lubricant and may well cause catastrophic damage to a very expensive engine.

Now the damage may well have been done - I just hope your boss has very deep pockets as he will need them.

4

As has been said above:

if its already been used for 3 days, get your mate, or you if you drive it next to check the oil.

If it looks ok then you might be alright and it boiled off.
If it looks milky then report it as “water in the oil” and leave it at that.

No its not the moral thing to do but sometimes number one, or your mates, come first and thats life.

Honest mistake and I guarantee he wont do it again!

Alex

5

:laughing: Mate of mine on Ex Lionheart back in the 80`s in Germany :sunglasses: , stuck about half a gallon of semi diluted TEPOL ( vehicle wash/soap for the civvies ) into a landrover engine instead of oil, at 3 in the morning :smiley: He ran it around for a week til it blew up spectacularly on the Autobahn with the Boss in the passenger seat :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

:blush: Best to own up though :wink:

6

i think its too late for owning up although i would have done that at the time…well thats moment has passed so what to do next :question: :question: :question:

mind your own business and just check the oil before you take that motor out like everybody else has said do your checks if oil looks milky report it if it looks ok take the lorry out.

but

make sure you do your checks before taking the lorry out and fill out any defects reports. :exclamation: :exclamation: :exclamation: