2.3L has water pouring from intake manifold

[CajunPwnStar]

I posted recently about my blown water pump and overheating the truck. Since then, I've chased problem after problem with the cooling system until I finally decided to pull the head. Found multiple cracks, so decided to hit the junkyard for one. After pulling four different heads, all cracked, I finally found one that looked ok and was flat.

I get home at about 8pm and throwe it in with a new Fel-Pro head gasket set and bolts. After I button everything down, I fill it with water. Suddenly water is gushing out of the lower intake manifold directly below plug 3. I can see what appears to be a gap in the gasket, but didn't have the energy to pull the intake off last night.

Did I somehow fudge up installing the lower gasket or was there unseen damage to the head? Not my first time replacing a head, but have never seen this pop up with new gaskets.

 

[RonD]

The intake manifold has a water passage to the head between cylinders 2 and 3 so that is the likely source of the leak.

Because the water passages have up to 16psi pressure(engine warmed up) it is not a bad idea to put some sealant around these passages when installing a gasket.
Also check the flatness of head passage and intake passage.

You should pull 1 spark on each cylinder and manually turn the engine over a few times.
If water got into the intake it could have made its way into a cylinder.............and that could cause a hydro-lock next time you cranked the engine, which can damage piston and connecting rod, better safe than sorry

 

[CajunPwnStar]

The intake manifold has a water passage to the head between cylinders 2 and 3 so that is the likely source of the leak.

Because the water passages have up to 16psi pressure(engine warmed up) it is not a bad idea to put some sealant around these passages when installing a gasket.
Also check the flatness of head passage and intake passage.

You should pull 1 spark on each cylinder and manually turn the engine over a few times.
If water got into the intake it could have made its way into a cylinder.............and that could cause a hydro-lock next time you cranked the engine, which can damage piston and connecting rod, better safe than sorry

This is what I was thinking. After pulling all those heads and then seeing water gushing out the side, I just gave up for the day. I have some good sealant I got when I worked for CAT that hasn't failed me yet. Will take the intake off today and throw some of that on there.

 

[CajunPwnStar]

Hey, Ron, I see the water passage, but there's no passage through the gasket or to the intake. This is the manifold I have and the water passage is just as wide, maybe a tad smaller, that the section that connects the 2nd and 3rd intake tube. I put the sealant on the gasket there or is there a way to just block that passage. Seems like it would just bust through the gasket eventually.

 

[RonD]

My mistake.

Is the new head a dual spark plug head, 8 spark plugs?

Of just 4 spark plugs?


Picture of 4 spark plug head here with water jacket hole: http://www.turbopinto.com/images/mustang/IMG_0266.JPG
Water circulation was pre-heater for carb setup

Dual plug didn't have it

 

[CajunPwnStar]

It's a dual spark plug. My fault, it's a '95. There's a small passage between the 2nd and 3rd ports. The intake does not sit flush there, so I was able to strip two layers of garden hose and make a sort of rubber spacer. This stopped it significantly, but I'm still going to seal the area and hope it holds.

Now it's not starting. It just turns over. I've checked timing 5 times. I have fuel pressure and I have spark. At one point it puffed a pop of smoke out of the throttle body.

I'm about ready to burn this damn thing lol

Something I noticed, the timing mark on this cam gear is different. My old one had two marks, a diamond and arrow. Arrow being cam and diamond being oil pump. This one only has one mark on a gear tooth itself. I'm assuming that's the timing mark....

 

[CajunPwnStar]

Edit..... It appears I have a 2.5L head with just a notch on the cam sprocket. So I'm assuming I'm timing this damn thing incorrectly.

 

[CajunPwnStar]

And the last update. The water leak is minimalized. I'm going to have to sealant the shit out of it, but it's only a drip right now, so I can do this at work tomorrow. Had to take the rocker cover off and time the cam by the lobes, which is about 6 teeth off from the mark that's on it. It sputtered a second and then fired up WOT because I forgot to put the throttle body back on, so I'm guessing the neighbors loved that since the muffler is also off. I'm exhausted from this journey, so calling it another night.

Long story short, 2.5L head on a 2.3L works with only having to slightly adjust the timing.