"Matt" wrote in message
...
My engine oil recently almost doubled in capacity when i changed the oil
the
other day. It is gray / milky looking. Suggestions from another post
said
have a mechanic look at it becuase it might be a warped head. Is there
anything else it could be? Also do you recommend I get it service before
the winter?


Those are the classic signs of getting water in the oil. Now the question
is where does it come from?

Do you have a fresh water cooling system? If so, then if the leak is from
the cooling system into the oil then you should also be losing water from
the cooling system.

A leak from the cooling system into the oil can be from a number of
places. The head gasket is a common failure point, but it is generally the
secondary effect of "blowing a head gasket", which generally is accompanied
by a loss in engine perfomance and overheating. The "warped head" leak is
generally the result of a significant overheating experience.

Another possibility is that rust/corrosion has created a leak path between
the cooling passages and the crankcase. This could be at a gasket, such as
the intake manifold or head, or through a casting itself. This is much more
likely to occur on a "raw water cooled" system, especially if used in a salt
water environment.

Is there any possibility that bilge water got high enough to cover the dip
stick? I have seen that happen before.

My suggestion would be to run a compression check on the cylinders. If you
had a bad head gasket, I would expect a problem to show up there. Next if
you have fresh water cooling, I would run a pressure test on the cooling
system.

Above all, you should definately take care of this now, don't wait! You
may have a major problem that will require a fair amount of time to resolve,
so fix it now so that it doesn't subtract from next season!

Rod