Water in cylinders

[rasouth]

Another thing I did and forgot to mention... I topped off radiator and had my son crank the engine without the cap on and no water gushed out the top. No pressure from cylinder into coolant passage? Bad valve in bad cylinder?

 

[rasouth]

Ran it without plug for a 10-15 minutes. Drove around for 30-40 minutes and checked coolant level... Down about 1/2 inch. Today drove around for another 30-40 minutes, let engine cool down a bit and checked coolant... Down another 1/2 inch from yesterday. No apparent external leaks... Did compression check and cylinder is now 105. Re-did check, making sure it was tight and still 105. Left gauge in and will check later but I think pressure is leaking out somewhere. Car starts and idles fine. No codes or misfires registering with OBD2 adapter. It does say code P1000 for PCM.

 

[96eb96]

I can say that for me it took a bit to fully seal. May have to go thru a few cycles. I did have a cracked plug, so I don't know exactly how long it took. I know it would accumulate the misfires at different times, until finally they stopped. I used that forscan software to check (the misfire monitor counter). As for the coolant dropping, these engines can drop a bit of coolant even after a few 1000 miles (from what I read) because of trapped air. I don't know what compression is in my engine. I just go by the counter.

Code P1000 means monitors are not yet set.

 

[rasouth]

I left the gauge in the offending cylinder and checked it about two hours later. the pressure dropped to about 100 from 105. Maybe gauge wasn't screwed in tight enough... Could these symptoms be caused by a sticky valve? I'm just trying all the least expensive options first. Maybe an oil additive to help free up valves, help with worn rings...? I'm just not looking forward to replacing heads, even though it would be a good idea to have new valves, gaskets, etc.

 

[96eb96]

I left the gauge in the offending cylinder and checked it about two hours later. the pressure dropped to about 100 from 105. Maybe gauge wasn't screwed in tight enough... Could these symptoms be caused by a sticky valve? I'm just trying all the least expensive options first. Maybe an oil additive to help free up valves, help with worn rings...? I'm just not looking forward to replacing heads, even though it would be a good idea to have new valves, gaskets, etc.

could be carbon too at that mileage, these engines are prone to it. Did you get a good look down the intake manifold? No harm in trying name brand additives (MMO, SF, berrymans) as directed. There is even a machine you can connect to the injectors.

 

[rasouth]

Intakes had a little carbon build up, but not much. Ran my fingers over them and very little came off, if any. Injectors looked clean, maybe a little build up around them but not on them. Even checked the Ohms on them when I had a chance and all were 17.
I've got me some Lucas injector cleaner that I'm gonna add to the fuel and maybe get some MMO the next time I go out.
Even with a cylinder down to 105 the car starts up and idles good, even drives okay with a little stutter now and again. A little sluggish during acceleration. I will drive it around and keep an eye on coolant and compression but I think I'm going to need a couple of heads in the long run.

 

[96eb96]

I may check my compression, my truck runs great but the gas mileage could be better. I am lucky to get 15. Maybe it could be a bit more powerful, maybe not. 0-60 in about 10 :lol: but that is what its rated for and the same as a new Corolla. This engine is not designed with efficiency in mind, never used on a car. Probably wouldn't meet the standard. It is certainly designed for low end torque, to go offroad and climb up a gravel hill. There is also a cash for clunkers video with it running for a few minutes after a cylinder comes out the block.

May run some chemicals thru it. I don't lose any coolant anymore though. Certainly not looking for perfection in a 23 yo truck.

 

[rasouth]

Before this leak and/or compression loss I was getting anywhere from 16.1 to 17.3 MPG. I had a habit of check mileage with every fill up. At one point I was getting close to 23 on long trips.
My parents bought the car new and took good care of it until they passed it on to me with 112000 miles on it. (Even had original brake shoes on it.) I tried to take care of it with oil changes, tune ups, etc. Then at around 198000 I had to replace crank bearings. So this car has a little family history to it, but there is a point where enough is enough.
So far compression is still low and I think my next step is to replace heads.