Engine failure

Tiny
TERRY SPIGUZZA
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 BUICK RIVIERA
  • 2.8L
  • V6
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 55,000 MILES
Spark plugs and carb blowing water
Saturday, August 27th, 2016 AT 10:30 PM

2 Replies

Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
A 1996 doesn't have a carb it's fuel injected so you have coolant in your spark plug holes and coming out of your throttle body?
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Saturday, August 27th, 2016 AT 10:41 PM
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,916 POSTS
That's one symptom of a seriously-leaking cylinder head gasket. Normally that only affects one cylinder, but if the coolant is getting pushed into the intake manifold, it can run into other cylinders too. Typically if you remove all of the spark plugs, then fill and pressurize the cooling system, you'll see coolant running out of just one spark plug hole. If it comes out of two or more, rotate the engine by hand until different valves open and close. Once the valves are closed for the leaking cylinder, coolant will only run out of that one spark plug hole.

While it very much less common, you also have to consider the possibility that a cylinder wall is cracked or there's a crack in the cylinder head. You won't know that until the heads are removed and inspected, but it bares mentioning if you're looking at buying a car to repair or if you're giving someone a repair estimate. This engine doesn't have a history of cracked heads or engine blocks, and all engines from all manufacturers DO have issues with leaking head gaskets.
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Saturday, August 27th, 2016 AT 10:47 PM

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