water in crankcase, '98 Honda Civic

[90xjDave]

I did a head gasket replacement on my '98 civic. I was getting water into combustion. No signs of oil in the coolant or mayonaisse looking oil.

After getting everything put back together, I started it and ran it for about 20minutes. Everything seemed fine, no problems at all. I then pulled the plug on the oil pan to change the oil and the oil came out really thin and watery. About 6 quarts of 'fluid' came out of my 4 quart oil pan. Changed the oil and filter and thought I should be good to go.

Now when I start the engine on a cool morning, the oil light stays on for about 30 seconds to a minute then shuts off. I'm wondering if I might still have water in the system somewhere, and the oil pressure sending unit might have water in it?? Is it normal to get water into the crankcase when you lift the head on these engines? Everything else seems to be running fine, just got to figure out how to get the rest of the water out of the system!

 

[RaccoonJoe]

My brother's Accord did that shortly after his wife cooked it but good. Overheated on the freeway, probably 10-15 minutes driving like that. We figured it cracked the head and spun the main bearings. He was getting the same symptoms as you are, but his was dumping coolant into the crankcase....

 

[90xjDave]

I had the head pressure tested when it was resurfaced. The head is not cracked and I'm no longer loosing coolant after replacing the gasket. So I think I've got that taken care of. But how in the world do I get the rest of the water out of the crankcase?

 

[87manche]

the water should drain down and be the lowest thing in the pan.

You need to get a mechanical oil pressure guage and verify that you've got low oil pressure.
If you do indeed have low oil pressure, then you need to drop the pan and pull the bearing caps off and look for damage.