My A7 has suffered from oil in the coolant for a couple of years which I had considered to be fairly insignificant up to last month when I changed the oil and found about a pint of water poured out of the sump drain hole before the oil came out. I removed the cylinder head to reveal a leak between a water hole and a cylinder bore and a rusty mark down the bore. Hoping for the best I replaced the oil with Wilko 20/50,ran it for a few minutes on the drive and repeated the procedure two more times before driving around for about 10miles. Unfortunately the engine sounded like a can of marbles so it had to come out. All the main bearings are spalled on the inner and outer races as well as a damaged front lip (already repaired with a home made repair washer although I don't think this is related)The bores appear to be undamaged. Moral :- don't ignore oil in your coolant! I should have been aware of the water problem as the car on starting always ran on 3 cylinders for a few seconds.

Location: Sheffield

Another thing to watch out for is pressure washing the engine, a friend of mine recently purchased a 1920s Citroen, this car had been used as a tractor for many years and was in a bit of a state, he was told the car was driving two years ago,after cleaning out the carb and filling float bowl with fuel , it started running second turn on the handle, we then repaired the starter motor and refitted it, my friend connected the battery to the starter motor, engine starts, that gearbox is noisy he comments and so checks the oil level, virtually none, top up, may as well check the engine oil, engine full of water,thinking the worst whipped off the head to check for porous bores or head gasket problem all fine, apart from the combustion chambers in the head that were full of carbon about 1/4 inch thick! The water had got in when he pressure washed the engine the Citroen having a slide over cover oil filler the water came of the head and straight into the sump.

Location: Pembrokeshire

Interesting that the engine ran ok or appeared to do so with a sump full of water and that the problem only came to light when drained and refilled with oil.

I suppose this must be due to the relative compressibility of the two liquids. I understand oil is more compressible than water. This being the case the water would keep the surfaces apart more than the oil so the 'can of marbles' effect would be suppressed.

Location: East Yorkshire

A mite pedantic but spalling usually refers to the flaking and consequent rough surface which is the usual failure mechanism of rolling bearings, although not Seven mains. Has this actually occurred or just grey worn tracks perhaps with rust pits?

It is always prudent to check oil level after lengthy standing in the same position. Any upward trend is a worry. Usually oil goes khaki after brief use. I have had other makes plagued by leaks. On occasions nothing could be immediately done. After about 30 miles all boils off with no apparent damage, but no rolling bearings involved. Mayonnaise like deposit in filler tube another symptom

Location: Auckland, NZ

I don't like using a pressure washer on any vehicle. It's been known for them to force water past modern oil seals.
A friend had a problem with wet carpets in his modern car. Found to be due to him washing it with a pressure washer. The water was being forced past the door seals.

Bob,
Yes, I think I should have referred to the damage to the outer race on the rear main as " a nasty looking grey depression" and on the front angular contact inner and outer races as " a series of grey threads". The next stage if I had left it would have been spalling of races and rolling elements ie flakes of alloy steel peeling off. In any case they are well and truly cream crackered.
Dave.

Location: Sheffield

And speaking of pressure washers, they have been known to do terrible things to caravans, forcing water under the sealing strips that cover joins in the exterior panels, and into the wooden framework where rot and decay sets in.
But that is a very long digression from the subject of Austin engines.

Location: Northumberland

Mayonnaise type deposits in the oil filler tube can also be caused just by condensation. After my mother died my farther got into the routine of taking his Fiesta out of the garage, driving 3/4 mile round trip to the paper shop, leaving the car on the drive all day then put it back in the garage in the evening, with maybe a couple of short trips out of no more than a couple of miles during the week and a 30 mile round trip to do his shopping once a fortnight.
He checked his oil and fluid levels fairly often and as the Fiesta never used any oil to speak off he never took the filler cap off. After a year or so he asked me to give the car a service for him, on removing the filler cap the rocker cover was full to the top with light grey sludge with the rockers and push rods having made their own little holes in it to move in.

Location: Pembrokeshire.