"rmcinnis" wrote in message
...

"Ralph Modica" wrote in message
...

Have recently discovered water in the engine oil. The dealer's mechanic
is
telling me this is "Normal"

I have owned a wide variety of boats and I have never had water get into
the
engine.

A very tiny amount of water in the oil is normal but NOT GOOD. A byproduct
of combustion is water. You see it dripping out of the tailpipes of cars
when they are cold and a fog when warmer. Some of this water gets by the
rings and winds up in the engine. It's important that the engine get hot
and stay hot for enough time to drive the water out of the oil.

Now as to the amount, there should NEVER be a change in the color of the oil
because of the water in it. If there is then you have a bad head gasket or a
cracked block. It's common for head gaskets to leak thus the recommended
stop leak in automotive cars. Since boats usually use raw water cooling you
can't put stop leak in the cooling system. All you can do is tighten the
head gaskets and hope it stops. IF not then new head gasket(s) are needed.