03-07-2023, 08:22 AM
Hi Frank
I was just suggesting that if water is coming from inside the engine out through the spark plug hole then it is likely coming via the cylinder (unless I guess theoretically the spark plug thread itself has failed through to the water ways but don't know if that actually happens).
Given the info we have I am not sure it is the most likely source, as lots of water (whether through a failing gasket or block etc) would of course be causing lots of other running problems and would likely be white 'smoke' at the very least and falling radiator level etc.
However, it is easy to do a first check by simply looking down the cylinder to see if there is water there from a slow seep via the gasket and then doing a compression check across the 4 cylinders to see if there is significant variation and so a potential problem with the gasket or worse etc before taking the head off. You won't see the gasket, but you might see any impact from its poor health.
If Josh finds nothing visually wrong and relatively even pressures then in my mind it is unlikely to be coming from inside the engine. In my mind the seating of the spark plugs is secondary, since even if they are not 100% sealed the water simply shouldn't be in the cylinder to be pushed out there anyway and so a poor sealing spark plug might be revealing a problem.
Noting of course perhaps the most likely simple scenario that water has simply dropped down as suggested and is boiling off.
What it definitely isn't is a radweld situation and some quick checks now and perhaps a call on a local experienced owner might save a simple problem becoming a catastrophic one or hopefully reassure that all is well.
All this from my relatively inexperienced knowledge base. But I did have a head gasket fail once with resulting water into a cylinder, and I knew about it pretty quickly and am glad I immediately switched off the engine, as of course water doesn't compress well and I have a feeling I would have been in the market for a new crank or more.
Andy
I was just suggesting that if water is coming from inside the engine out through the spark plug hole then it is likely coming via the cylinder (unless I guess theoretically the spark plug thread itself has failed through to the water ways but don't know if that actually happens).
Given the info we have I am not sure it is the most likely source, as lots of water (whether through a failing gasket or block etc) would of course be causing lots of other running problems and would likely be white 'smoke' at the very least and falling radiator level etc.
However, it is easy to do a first check by simply looking down the cylinder to see if there is water there from a slow seep via the gasket and then doing a compression check across the 4 cylinders to see if there is significant variation and so a potential problem with the gasket or worse etc before taking the head off. You won't see the gasket, but you might see any impact from its poor health.
If Josh finds nothing visually wrong and relatively even pressures then in my mind it is unlikely to be coming from inside the engine. In my mind the seating of the spark plugs is secondary, since even if they are not 100% sealed the water simply shouldn't be in the cylinder to be pushed out there anyway and so a poor sealing spark plug might be revealing a problem.
Noting of course perhaps the most likely simple scenario that water has simply dropped down as suggested and is boiling off.
What it definitely isn't is a radweld situation and some quick checks now and perhaps a call on a local experienced owner might save a simple problem becoming a catastrophic one or hopefully reassure that all is well.
All this from my relatively inexperienced knowledge base. But I did have a head gasket fail once with resulting water into a cylinder, and I knew about it pretty quickly and am glad I immediately switched off the engine, as of course water doesn't compress well and I have a feeling I would have been in the market for a new crank or more.
Andy
Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think!