F Type - Water Ingress Engine problems

Orangey

New member
Posted a few months ago about water ingress into the engine bay that has supposedly caused my car engine to fail. Had to remove the post due to legal reasons however it has now been settled.

Hopefully this will help someone else.

Car: 2014, 36k miles V8 R (With the closed style vents)

The situation:
My car started to make a ticking noise that increased with RPMs. It got increasing louder over a couple of weeks so I took it to a specialist to look at (video'd and have a copy of the noise posted on my YouTube as unlisted). After lots of investigation they found out the camshafts were worn and that the rest of the engine could also have wear damage. They suspected that oil was the problem and it could have been incorrectly serviced or another reason. It was serviced in Feb 2021, the ticking became more pronounced in Jan 2022 (Covered 6k miles at this point)

A third party then completed a independent inspection report and they concluded that the cause was water damage from the engine, due to hood vents or another cause getting into the engine bay. They theorised that the water on top of the engine from rain/washing evaporated and went into the oil causing oil water contamination, which caused engine wear. This is due to short journeys, so if it was raining and i went for a drive that was under half an hour then the car would not remove the water in the oil and eventually it would build up and cause the damage. (This guy also concluded that camshaft wear at 35k is normal wear and tear so I don't exactly trust it)

Further investigation found that the water from the bonnet vents also caused oxidation on the engine block, also causing a few seized injectors(they were not causing any problems yet despite them being seized so this would of been another problem later down the line), corroded bolts that caused the rocker cover to snap on removal and engine block discolouring from the water. Its worth noting that my Y pipe has not yet failed even though it is the old style, but a previous owner did change the water pump in 2018

Essentially my engine needs to be replaced due to the damage ( I now have settled figure from the garage I bought it from)

Personally I don't think water ingress caused the damage because with their theory every f type would fail within years of ownership, not after 9 years

I did leave the car out in the rain for a couple of days and then drive it, I also washed the car and started it (to move it) then move it back.

I'm going to go down the route of trying to get a brand new engine or a remanufactured one. I have seen a few others post about engine failure on the Facebook pages as well (some from the US). It took me by surprise because the car was in a pristine condition and was so low mileage.

My main problem with the car is when the oil pressure gets low, it doesn't let you know because it doesn't have a sensor which is a bit stupid.
 
Did the independent inspectors give you any clue as to how water in the engine bay could get into the oil? AFAIK, the only way to get water in oil is gasket failure - external water doesn't have any access to oil, apart from the filler cap, which I presume was fitted correctly.
 
scm said:
Did the independent inspectors give you any clue as to how water in the engine bay could get into the oil? AFAIK, the only way to get water in oil is gasket failure - external water doesn't have any access to oil, apart from the filler cap, which I presume was fitted correctly.

They said condensation, because water gets on top of the engine there is more condensation on the f type and his theory was that short distances do not burn off the water and that caused the damage. Eventually the build up diluted the oil to cause the wear

Small amounts of condensation in car oil is normal but amplified by the water getting into the engine bay regularly made it a lot worse

Whether it's true or not I don't know, the independent specialist did not seem to agree
 
Personally I don't think water ingress caused the damage because with their theory every f type would fail within years of ownership, not after 9 years
You are right!
Sorry to hear of your issues.


I have always maintained the bonnet vents, although they can let in a bit are not the root cause..it's yet another internet myth.

Have looked at a few apparent bonnet vent water damaged blocks....no way rainwater is that caustic on ally, or can seize an injector at the back of the engine - That is unless the car is constantly parked on an incline possibly.

I believe it's the dreaded coolant leak, beit glycol/water in liquid or steam form. This emanates from the water pump and potentially the coolant hoses. I'd put my c0ck on a block and say it's the water pump.
People seem to replace plastic with plastic thinking it will cure the issue - The new coolant hoses are failing too!

I'm not sure which version coolant pump is current, but I have just ordered the latest (Ver 04 I think!) from the states with brass unions and Aluminium coolant pipes. Job for a rainy day!

Injectors, just bad luck. Dissimilar metals, no release agent, it's to be expected I'm afraid. There's plenty of blocks where they just seem to come out without any agro - remember that the internet tends to only reflect the negative side of things.

FB being a social media site, expect technical discussion on the most part to be verging on utter drivel from my experience!
 
Thats hilarious, water from the top of the engine getting in the oil, the only way you get water in a engine is if the head gasket fails
you do short journeys and thats condensation or you physically pour it in the oil cap.
It sounds like it ran low on oil or wasnt serviced correctlly.
 
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