Hi there guys. You might remember how i've been trying to get my 2.0 litre to run for nearly a year. Well to cut a long story short, i gave up. I managed to get hold of an engine for a reasonable amount.

Fitted the engine and it ran beautifully. Excellent i thought, then left it until the dvla got off their arses with the paperwork. After about 8 weeks finally got the paperwork through so booked the MOT and ran the car for a good half hour to give the battery a bit of a charge. Great steady idle, fan etc cut in as ot should and temp good.

When i switched the engine off there was a noise like a kettle boiling. I could see littlebubbles coming from the no 4 plug lead. When i pulled it out the plug well was full of boiling water, as were the rest.  There is no mayo in the oil or water, but the central well is full of water.

Before i go pulling everything apart, is this definately going to be a cracked head or am i missing something obvious?

Cheers, gill

That's a possibility as the scuttle isn't actually attatched at the moment and one i hadn't actually considered. BUT i have a feeling that i noticed a little water in there when i took the engine out of the donor. It was hammering down when i did it so didn't really take much notice.

I got the engine from mot tester who got it from a customer. The car failed on rust tyres knackered exhaust etc but emissions were good.

I'll give the engine another good run today and see if i get more water. Will also do a compression test.

Hopefully that will be what it is. Will do it now and repost results.

Gill

Indeed Entwood.... In fact, if the head was cracked badly enough to fill all the plug wells with water I doubt the engine would run

erubus wrote on 03. Apr 2011 at 12:54:



If its turning over OK .. check the dispack/plug leads for wetness, from the amount of water you describe things may be pretty damp !!

Well seems to be staying dry anyway. Must have been the scuttle after all. It's all back together now so should stay dry!

The engine does seem very smokey though so the heads probably gonna have to come off anyway. Strange because it wasnt smokey in the other car, it passed its emissions quite well apparently so its a bit of a mystery. Seems like valve stem seal smoke to me.

Cheers for the advice guys
Gill