Water in 4 cylinders

[kingsfisherman]

Was cruising on step 3200 rpm and engine stumbled and died, ended up hydro locked with water in 4 cylinders.
Got the water out and got it started but it's not running on all cylinders. Any ideas on where to start looking?

 

[tpenfield]

When an engine hydrolocks (while running) often the connecting rods give way (i.e. bend) as a result.

In the situation you described, I would remove all of the spark plugs and see if the engine can rotate freely without any sort of hard points or similar obstructions. If the rotation wants to stop at a certain point (or points) along its 360˚ of travel, then it may be an indication of a bent connecting rod (or 2 or 3 . . . ).

That may be why the engine appears not to be 'running on all cylinders' (my guess)

Since you purged all of the water and have run the engine, do a compression test and post the numbers for each cylinder.

 

[kingsfisherman]

When an engine hydrolocks (while running) often the connecting rods give way (i.e. bend) as a result.

In the situation you described, I would remove all of the spark plugs and see if the engine can rotate freely without any sort of hard points or similar obstructions. If the rotation wants to stop at a certain point (or points) along its 360˚ of travel, then it may be an indication of a bent connecting rod (or 2 or 3 . . . ).

That may be why the engine appears not to be 'running on all cylinders' (my guess)

Since you purged all of the water and have run the engine, do a compression test and post the numbers for each cylinder.

Thank you, t,
I pulled the plugs and cranked it over and blew the water out, then shot WD40 in each cylinder and cranked some more. Everything sound normal after the oringinal cranking which it made a pop then cranked normal. It starts like it starving for fuel then runs rough.

 

[Scott Danforth]

To get water in cylinders @ 3200 RPM means something else failed first

 

[dubs283]

Would think you have a serious problem now, the result of what has been happening for a bit. Guess is one manifold/riser had failed allowing water into the combustion chamber. Over time this destroys your valve(s) first. Probably got to the point where multiple cylinders were affected and major loss of compression plus water from the exhaust locked up the engine.

Time for a compression test first, results tell you where to head next but I'm guessing a valve job at minimum

 

[kingsfisherman]

Would think you have a serious problem now, the result of what has been happening for a bit. Guess is one manifold/riser had failed allowing water into the combustion chamber. Over time this destroys your valve(s) first. Probably got to the point where multiple cylinders were affected and major loss of compression plus water from the exhaust locked up the engine.

Time for a compression test first, results tell you where to head next but I'm guessing a valve job at minimum

Thank you Dubs,
I am going to do a compression test but not sure about being able to get the engine up to operating temp first before testing? Will it hurt to run it to get it up to temp?

 

[dubs283]

Will it hurt to run it to get it up to temp?

The damage is done, probably will be very obvious when you do a compression test. At this point it doesn't matter if the engine is warm or cold for the test

 

[itsathepete]

Thank you Dubs,
I am going to do a compression test but not sure about being able to get the engine up to operating temp first before testing? Will it hurt to run it to get it up to temp?

Doesn't matter if you run it or not first. Compression test will tell you.

To get water in cylinders @ 3200 RPM means something else failed first

Exactly. Possibly an ignition problem causing the engine to stall. Might get lucky

 

[kingsfisherman]

Doesn't matter if you run it or not first. Compression test will tell you.

Exactly. Possibly an ignition problem causing the engine to stall. Might get lucky

apparently I did get lucky, I started it up and got it to run good, turns out it was flooded. No pun intended.

 

[itsathepete]

apparently I did get lucky, I started it up and got it to run good, turns out it was flooded. No pun intended.

That's good news so far but did you do a compression test? Sometimes it will run ok without a load...for a while. Probably need to check the oil for any water or metal contamination. At least put a new filter on and cut the old one open and inspect for metal bits. A bent rod due to hydrolock can tear stuff up. If you did get lucky (and I hope this is the case) and the engine had already stalled when it sucked up water, you need to find out why it stalled and fix it

 

[Horigan]

@kingsfisherman , FYI. I just had a water in cylinder event (failed riser, hydro-locked with starter) and found over a quart of water in the oil. Make sure you change the oil and filter a couple of times, soon.

 

[kingsfisherman]

@kingsfisherman , FYI. I just had a water in cylinder event (failed riser, hydro-locked with starter) and found over a quart of water in the oil. Make sure you change the oil and filter a couple of times, soon.

yup did it once already last weekend and got enough oil to change it twice more. Hopefully it wiil be cleared up after 2 more changes.

 

[dubs283]

yup did it once already last weekend and got enough oil to change it twice more. Hopefully it wiil be cleared up after 2 more changes.

Good news!

Keep up with routine maintenance/engine/drive monitoring