Salt water intrusion in engine oil

[pstephens46]

A buddy of mine has salt water in engine oil. Engine began to run rough and this was discovered. 2013 F250, 3.3 liter. Has anyone here had this issue and repaired the motor? And continued to run afterwards? The overall life of motor probably is shortened. It’s mounted on a bay boat versus an offshore model. Anyone have experience with long term issues of running a motor that’s had this problem?

[99yam40]

I would think it would depend on how the saltwater got in to the oil.
a tear down would need to be done to find out for sure

[rubilacx]

I would pull both heads and look for where the cooling passages have corroded and letting salt water into the pistons. I've had this cause a similar issue, but I didn't catch it it in time and wound up sticking and breaking the piston rod. That is probably the most likely scenario in the short term. Post analysis showed what happened.

[HMBJack]

You could tear the powerhead apart and never find the source of the leak. Then again, you might get lucky and locate it.

If it were my engine, I'd run it as usual and simply change the oil every 50 hours. Or if really bad, change every 30 hours.

[99yam40]

I think there was a problem with exhaust stack corrosion with some of the larger HP motor that let water in or something like that

[pstephens46]

I think there was a problem with exhaust stack corrosion with some of the larger HP motor that let water in or something like that

I remember that. I also remember a key symptom of that was overheating at lower rpm. That wasn’t happening in this case. This is also a 2013 model 3.3 F250 so I believe that issue was resolved by then. Guessing head gasket would be the first place I would examine. Leak down would be a cheap start.