sunday surprise

[Bill G.]

Pulled spark plugs on Sunday to have antifreeze pour out of one of the cylinders the cylinder is right above a block drain.I can't see any water in the oil could it be a rizor gasket?and would there be any possible damage in that cylinder with the anti freeze in it? Any input would be appreciated....TXS Bill G.

[John F.]

or bad head gasket or cracked head...sorry.

[IRGuy]

Any chance the engine had overheated in the recent past?

On one of my Cummins 6Bs the PO had a belt break and the coolant pump stopped, over heating that engine and cracking the exhaust manifold. Coolant leaked into the manifold as the engine was cooling down.. my mechanic said the crack was so small a pressure test of the coolant system when the engine was cold showed it holding pressure, but the crack would open enough to lose coolant when the hot engine was cooling down.

[Bill G.]

No,no overheat winterized and stored inside.

[Carl]

Gaskets, risers or manifold are relatively easy fixes.

I'd squirt a good amount of lube in cylinders and crank by hand a couple times to coat the walls. I like marvels mystery oil.

Can damage have been done...

Did you crank it and have it hydroloc? if so ...bending something inside is a possibility.

If not...I'd find the leak and repair.

Do a compression test, if good, start it up and consider yourself lucky.

[Bruce]

Check the level in the closed cooling system to see if it dropped indicating an internal leak. Otherwise depending on how it was winterized I've see antifreeze in cylinders before.

Get a bore scope or a mechanic with one and have them pressurize the cooling system and look in the cylinder to see if it leaks and where it might be coming from.

[Bill G.]

Hi Bruce thanks for kicking in, the motor is out of the boat for a timing chain and was in the marina's shop over the winter.It was the 3rd from the front of the motor on the r/s I think that's number 6?and it was green antifreeze?

[Bill G.]

Update-compression ck ok,pressure test closed system good but still no idea where the antifreeze came from.Had the motor running letting sit overnight and going to take a look in the morning any other ideas?...txs Bill

[Bruce]

When I used to live in the cold tundra of the NE and worked in a boat dealership when I was 16 and 17 doing engines, I saw anti freeze in the cylinders from time to time. When anti freeze was cheap and considered not hazardous they used to stick the water pump intake into the anti freeze can and run the engine till pure anti freeze ran out the exhaust.

Depending on how the exhaust was run and the boat was moved around if the front of the boat was tilted down, standing anti freeze would travel back into the engine and find the first exhaust valve open and flood the cylinder.

Make sure the coolant pressure test is done both hot and cold.

[Bill G.]

Thanks so much Bruce will do.

[Bill G.]

Hey Bruce the anti freeze was from the fwc system not the pink stuff going out the exhaust is that still possible what you mentioned thanks for your input it's greatly appreciated.Bill

[mike ohlstein]

That sounds more like a piece of cracked iron…..

[Tony Meola]

How about a bad riser. That would put water in the cylanders right by the riser.