manifolds and hydrolock

[tommays]

with all the talk about how long to wait to change a manifold/riser and what the chances are for water damage to the motor i thought i would share my most recent adventure<br /><br />its not a boat but a 3.8 GM motor used in the front wheel drive venture and has a real problem keeping the antifreeze were it belongs this is the second time around in 72000 miles thank god for ext coverage<br /><br />clean oil and just passsed NYS emissions 10 days before<br /><br />to get to the real point drive car home all is well NO WARNING AT ALL next mourning hydrolock in driveway how much leak NOT ENOUGH FOR THE OVERFLOW TANK TO HAVE NEEDED ANY FLUID ADDED<br /><br />tommays

 

[Laddies]

Re: manifolds and hydrolock

A engine can hyro lock on as little as 3 or 4 oz. of water in a cyl. as it can't be compressed

 

[KaGee]

Re: manifolds and hydrolock

Hope the car is ok Tommays.

 

[tommays]

Re: manifolds and hydrolock

its getting a compleat top end gaskets and what ever is required for 225 dollars because the ext coverage had expired but the GM rep really doesent want us to start buying toyotas so he is makeing things right.<br /><br />tommays

 

[trog100]

Re: manifolds and hydrolock

it will be it just needs a new head gasket or two.. with a bit of luck.. he he <br /><br />waterl/antfeeze just leaks slowly into the cylinder overnight... as someone has said all it needs is enough to fill the combustion chamber space left when the piston is at top dead centre.. it also needs both valves to be closed if the cylinder was on the exhaust stroke when it first moves it would go straight out the exhaust valve with no hydrolock and the engine would fire up and run..<br /><br />the engine also sounds like it has had problems for some time and aint had the correct attention.. he he.. cars aint that different from boats they just have less ways for water to get into cylinders but given enough time it will.. it rarely does damage thow..<br /><br />mostly with a petrol engine water leaking into cylinders when the engine is running just gets pumped out thru the exhaust valve during each cycle and there aint ever enough in there at any one time to hydrolock.. it makes a grand job of cleaning piston tops as well.. shiny as a new pin they are.. he he.. <br /><br />now with a deisel engine there is next to no space at all tween piston and head at top dead centre.. hydrolocking whilst running is a real possibility so are bent conrods..<br /><br />trog100

 

[trog100]

Re: manifolds and hydrolock

the real interesting question hear is just what would a repair centre.. shop.. garage.. whatever u call em do with an engine that has hydrolocked during start up and they get their hands on it...????<br /><br />what will tommays motor get for his $250..<br /><br />i know what my shadetree approach would be.. a dealer might well have the same approach as my shadetree one if he was standing the cost..<br /><br />but if the customer was standing the cost the dealer approach could well be a little different.. like a complete top and bottom end strip down checking for rod and bearing damage plus christ knows what and turn out to be a very expensive job indeed..<br /><br />trog100

 

[Don S]

Re: manifolds and hydrolock

Those rods don't bend that easy. If you keep hammering at it trying to get it to start, or it fires on another cylinder and really hits the hydroloc hard, then the rod MIGHT bend one. Once the heads are pulled off, you can look at the indents and marks on the piston. If they are not all in a line, then one is bent, or doesn't go to the top of the bore like the others.<br />The big failures when a lot of water goes in the cylinder while doing 2000rpm and it comes up on compression stroke, then you have problems. <br />I've seen a lot of engines hydrolocked, but never seen one bend a rod while trying to start it.

 

[tommays]

Re: manifolds and hydrolock

it wont be shadetree at all my wifes brother runs the service deparment and we own a lot of GM cars and they want to keep it that way<br /><br />and its 125 for the tow and 100 for parts they really dont want to lose people to other brands<br /><br />this motor is a disaster of cast iron and aluminum heads that has so many problems GM covers any problems up to 60000 miles no questions asked for anybody<br /><br />tommays

 

[chuckz]

Re: manifolds and hydrolock

If it happens again, I got a fix for you. Pull the plugs and crank the engine to get the water out. Re-install the plugs. Put some sealer in the radiator (Quick Silver is particulary good). Run it up to temp and let it seal itself. No need to try to find the source of the leak. Obviously, if this happened twice, the real problem was never solved.

 

[tommays]

Re: manifolds and hydrolock

well i was really only trying to point out how easy it is to hydrolock and how you really get no warning<br /><br />and to also point out how bad mixing aluminum and iron parts turns out<br /><br />the first time it was a bad intake manifold gasket the fix lasted two years and was still good this time its a head gasket and im not going to keep the car long enough to find out how long it holds up<br /><br />tommays

 

[trog100]

Re: manifolds and hydrolock

"and to also point out how bad mixing aluminum and iron parts turns out"<br /><br />its that bad that most cars on the planet are done this way.. cast iron block and alloy head is pretty standard.. they do warn u to use antifeeze all year around thow for its corrosion protection abilites and not let water near the insides of your engine.. they would probably die laffing if some wag suggested useing the salty variety as coolant like happens in all too many boats.. he he <br /><br />100,000 mile warranties are pretty standard on euro cars as well.. its more a promise of em not going wrong.. they dont offer it cos they suspect they will.. its not good business that way around..<br /><br />and i recon u did get a warning but just ignored it cos its a car and not a boat... and your brother in laws position in the world might have had some affect as well.. he he he<br /><br />only joking dude.. he he <br /><br />trog100<br /><br />ps.. and L.I. Chuck.. good stuff for holes elsewhere.. but not headgaskets.. bin there done that and failed abysmally..and more than once.. he he.. the only fix for a failed headgasket is to replace it and if it failed prematurely try and find out why.. all headgaskets will fail eventually they just like boat manifolds are wearable items and dont last for ever..