Water in Cylinders

Tiny
HENMAR77
  • MEMBER
  • 1978 CHEVROLET EL CAMINO
  • V8
  • 75,000 MILES
350 Chevy El Camino. Engine over heated. Blew the water pump gaskets. Changed thermostat and water pump gaskets (water pump is fine). When I cranked the engine it wouldn’t start pulled the spark plugs, water poured out of 2 of the middle cylinders on the right side. Took off the heads, no cracks. Took off the head gasket, don’t see any damage (as far as I know other than cracks or breaks not sure what to look for) Examined the block don’t see any cracks. So where is the water coming from? I don’t know what else it could be. I’m afraid to put it back together again with new gaskets without knowing what’s wrong. What else could it be?
Thursday, December 16th, 2010 AT 6:33 AM

3 Replies

Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
  • 31,937 POSTS
Cracking may not be external, they may be under the valves were you cant see them, the head may be warped as well, it should be checked over my an auto machinist they can check all these for you and advise on the best repairs, also many blown head gaskets are near impossible to pick up unless you know what to look for, get the head check by a professional, start here.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Thursday, December 16th, 2010 AT 7:15 AM
Tiny
HENMAR77
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Thanks. But if I have to pay to get all that check it defeats the purpose of me working on it in the first place. Is it possible that it was just the headgasket? If the head is slightly warped would a new head gasket fix the problem? How would a crack under the valves make water leak into the cylinders?
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Thursday, December 16th, 2010 AT 7:45 AM
Tiny
MHPAUTOS
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You need to pay for the tests, not doing so and just doing the head gasket will be a waste of money, a head gasket will not compensate for a warped head, cracking in the internal inlet passages and around and under valves is common, water leaks into the inlet system and into the combustion chamber with normal induction, you just can't replace a gasket, this is asking for trouble.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Thursday, December 16th, 2010 AT 8:12 AM

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