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Demersus
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2011
- Messages
- 47
- Vehicle Year
- 1990
- Engine
- 2.9 V6
- Transmission
- Automatic
Just for the record this project went very sideways on me soon after I bought the truck. Long story short, paid an independent mechanic to do a full overhaul on the factory 2.9L. The rebuild was finished, but the project stalled and I stored everything for nearly 4 years. Fast forward to today.
The motor is installed and I've put great care into readying it for first start up. I get all the fluids topped up late one night and decided to wait until morning to do the final check before starting.
Next day I check the fluid levels again. The oil is a quart over, that's strange. I thought I was pretty careful to underfill a bit, so I could top it off properly once the filter was filled. I decided to turn it over a bit to pump the oil through the filter, but the level didn't drop. So I decided I better drain some out before proceeding. I pull the plug and WATER comes out at first, like nearly a quart. I understandably freak out big time.
I drain it and stop for a day to get a hold on the situation. I decide that there is no way water got in that motor except through the cooling system that I just filled a few days earlier. But, the level seems fairly stable, although a bit lower than I remember in the radiator.
So I do a quick test. I leave the plug out of the oil pan and overfill the radiator using a big funnel that sort of seals in the fill hole, allowing me to get a little extra head pressure. I wait a few minutes.
At first I saw nothing drain out of pan, but after just a few more minutes here comes the water, and the rate is a fast trickle that slows to a drip and finally stops as the level in the radiator drops slightly, like and inch or so.
So, at this point I see two major possible causes. First, the block is cracked somewhere. Now, this mechanic turned out to be a bit of a hack, but I think he would have at least noticed a cracked block. It was not magnafluxed, but I think block cracks are far more apparent than head cracks. Second, he did a very poor assembly job and the leak is somewhere like through the head gasket. But I've never even started the motor so for water to run that quickly into the crank case doesn't seem possible without there being a major misalignment or complete lack of torque on the head bolts.
I'm facing the prospect of having the completely pull the motor again and either tear it down to inspect, or replace it. It turned out that the mechanic was pretty much a hack. He was fully qualified and capable of doing good work, but took a lot of short cuts by my observations.
Anyway, I need thoughts on this. It would be nice if I could just tear down the top end in the truck and redo the gaskets. But, what if it's a cracked block? I can't really figure out a way to make an exact determination at this point. Since this only happens when the radiator is very full, logically I want to believe it's a top end gasket issue, and not a cracked block.
The motor is installed and I've put great care into readying it for first start up. I get all the fluids topped up late one night and decided to wait until morning to do the final check before starting.
Next day I check the fluid levels again. The oil is a quart over, that's strange. I thought I was pretty careful to underfill a bit, so I could top it off properly once the filter was filled. I decided to turn it over a bit to pump the oil through the filter, but the level didn't drop. So I decided I better drain some out before proceeding. I pull the plug and WATER comes out at first, like nearly a quart. I understandably freak out big time.
I drain it and stop for a day to get a hold on the situation. I decide that there is no way water got in that motor except through the cooling system that I just filled a few days earlier. But, the level seems fairly stable, although a bit lower than I remember in the radiator.
So I do a quick test. I leave the plug out of the oil pan and overfill the radiator using a big funnel that sort of seals in the fill hole, allowing me to get a little extra head pressure. I wait a few minutes.
At first I saw nothing drain out of pan, but after just a few more minutes here comes the water, and the rate is a fast trickle that slows to a drip and finally stops as the level in the radiator drops slightly, like and inch or so.
So, at this point I see two major possible causes. First, the block is cracked somewhere. Now, this mechanic turned out to be a bit of a hack, but I think he would have at least noticed a cracked block. It was not magnafluxed, but I think block cracks are far more apparent than head cracks. Second, he did a very poor assembly job and the leak is somewhere like through the head gasket. But I've never even started the motor so for water to run that quickly into the crank case doesn't seem possible without there being a major misalignment or complete lack of torque on the head bolts.
I'm facing the prospect of having the completely pull the motor again and either tear it down to inspect, or replace it. It turned out that the mechanic was pretty much a hack. He was fully qualified and capable of doing good work, but took a lot of short cuts by my observations.
Anyway, I need thoughts on this. It would be nice if I could just tear down the top end in the truck and redo the gaskets. But, what if it's a cracked block? I can't really figure out a way to make an exact determination at this point. Since this only happens when the radiator is very full, logically I want to believe it's a top end gasket issue, and not a cracked block.
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