water in cylinder

[DBLD]

Hello,<br /><br />Have a 1994 88 hp Johnson V4.<br /><br />I had a brief loss of power this past weekend, so I checked out my fuel delivery and spark plugs. The engine didn't quit altogether, just a drop in RPM while going along. Fuel looks OK, but I can't tell if I have a little water in the fuel itself - I do have a brand new water separator.<br /><br />I pulled all the plugs, and 3 look good, but the third looked like it had some water in the cylinder. There were little droplets of water on the plug, and it was also nice and clean compared to the others.<br /><br />Also, the spark plug wire that feeds that cylinder seemed to be loose enough where it could have bad contact while bouncing around in the ocean. <br /><br />I am thinking that may be what caused my power loss and also why that cylinder may not have burned off any water that was in it. Could that be correct?<br /><br />If the water in the cylinder comes from the fuel, how can I get rid of it? Is there anywhere else the water can be coming from?<br /><br />I'm going to replace that spark wire with a new one - hopefully that will solve it.<br /><br />Please let me know if anyone has any thoughts. Thanks for your help!

 

[jim dozier]

Re: water in cylinder

The water on the spark plugs is not coming from water in the fuel in my opinion. The most likely cause in a leaking head gasket letting in cooling water. The water steam cleans the plug. There isn't enough water in the fuel to do this and still keep the engine running. Water in the fuel would cause it to run rough though. First do a compression test on a warm engine, plugs out, full throttle and tell us the numbers. I think that will tell the story.

 

[DBLD]

Re: water in cylinder

Hi JimD,<br /><br />Thanks for your reponse - I'm kind of new at this and I have learned a little as I go, but I still have tons more to learn!<br /><br />Compression is right around 130 on all 4 cylinders. 130, 132, 134 and 129. The lower reading was not even on the same side as the cylinder with the water in it.<br /><br />I feared head gasket also because I can see some salt residue around the outside of the seal on the head, but it isn't bad compared to other engines I've seen. Plus the compression is pretty good.<br /><br />Any thoughts? Also, what about that loose plug wire - do you think that could have bounced a little and caused the RPM to drop? Still doesn't explain the water in the cylinder, I guess.<br /><br />What could happen if I keep running engine like this (with water in cylinder) until I figure this out?<br /><br />Thanks!