Water pouring out my tailpipe and will not start

WAYNE16

MEMBER
2005 FORD MUSTANG
4.0L
V6
2WD
AUTOMATIC
76,000 MILES

I was driving home from work and my car started to run hot, so I pulled it over, shut the engine off and put cold water into my radiator. Once I tried to start the car a lot of water started pouring out my exhaust pipe and now the car will not start. It sounds like this starter is weak, but I have a brand-new starter. I finally got the car started and had heavy white smoke and water was still pouring out my exhaust pipes. When I got home I cut it off now I cannot get the car to crank back up.

1 Reply

AL514

MECHANIC
4,179 POSTS

Hello, it sounds like you may have a bad head gasket or even possibly cracked the cylinder head or block somewhere. Putting cold water into a hot engine, especially an overheating hot engine, is never a good idea. All the white smoke sounds like coolant are being burned in the cylinders and coming out of the exhaust pipe. As for all the water, actually a small amount of water is supposed to come out because of the reaction of the Catalytic Converter, but not as much as what you're describing.
First, I would check your oil and see if it's milky, meaning mixed with coolant. With a lot of white smoke obviously there's a major problem. So, it is going to have to be diagnosed by someone. I wouldn't crank the vehicle over too much, the cylinders may be filled with coolant and if they are, or even if just one is, it might hydro-lock. and bend or break a connecting rod. Having it towed somewhere is your best bet. and explain in detail what happened so that a shop doesn't try to crank it over either. They should remove all the spark plugs first, that way the coolant will have a place to go without further damaging the engine.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-overheating-or-running-hot