V6 engine damage during storage.

[vlad01]

I have encountered something very alarming and confusing.

I have had two engines while put aside after being in perfect running condition now seized with cylinders full of water.

The strange thing is that majority of the coolant water was drained out prior to storage but what ever remainder was left inside the water jacket or manifold passages leaked in from somewhere and completely filled 1 or two of the cylinders.

I suspect the culprit was those dreaded intake gaskets as they were bad on both engines. I have two good engine that were perfect running order set aside as replacement for my cars totally made into scrap metal.



RIP engines

anyone seen this happen before?

[Holden202T]

never had an engine sit for much period of time with coolant in them at all...

that said surely a hone of the bore and some gaskets could resolve it ?

[vlad01]

never had an engine sit for much period of time with coolant in them at all...

that said surely a hone of the bore and some gaskets could resolve it ?

nah, its stuffed, must of had water sitting in the bore for several months. Needs an over bore for sure so its not worth it as hey are cheap engines to buy.

I always drain the coolant but some must of been stuck in the passages somewhere.

you'll always be surprised how much water comes out when you tip the engine end to end 12 months latter even though you get all you can get out in the first place.

what I don't understand is how it got in the cylinder? I am going to take these apart as a learning experience to this type of thing occurring.

[immortality]

don't they have a small drain plug on the side of the block?

I had a VN V6 sitting for a fair amount of time which was a complete long block and had no issues at all, it was drained of coolant when removed from the car. When the intake/heads were removed there was really no coolant left to worry about. Having said that, it was only really water which I figure would evaporate with time. don't know if that would be the case with green/red stuff.

If your really worried about it, remove the water pump and turn the motor on it's end to try and get it all out before putting into storage.

[Holden202T]

another option is you can remove one of the outer head bolts, these go into water, then rotate the motor on an engine stand and that will drain enough to get it below the level of the heads, also as immortality says, there is a bung in the side of the block that should have the right results!

[VK_3800]

I suspect the culprit was those dreaded intake gaskets

Wouldn't be surprised, every time I've seen one with a suspected head gasket its been the intake. Coolant leaks from the coolant passage to the inlet port then its a short trip past the valve to the cylinder

[vlad01]

I suspect the culprit was those dreaded intake gaskets

Wouldn't be surprised, every time I've seen one with a suspected head gasket its been the intake. Coolant leaks from the coolant passage to the inlet port then its a short trip past the valve to the cylinder

yeah thats what I reckon, both engine that filled with water were only run on water not coolant so I think that would be half the problem.


I freaked out when I saw my new VR pissing coolant from the intake gaskets, I drained all the coolant last night and have all the gaskets ready for the weekend.


But at least in this case the engine had nice thick green glycol not water

[immortality]

I still can't see it being from the remaining coolant, most coolant left in the engine is in the block coolant jackets below the water pump after the lower radiator hose has been removed. A little stays in the intake manifold but I can't see there being enough to fill 2 cylinders. Also, there is no pressure in the coolant system so no way to really force it down the cylinder and I don't think the cylinders would hold a vacuum long enough to suck it in even if the intake gasket was dodgy.

[vlad01]

Only pulling it apart will know. Might even be a head gasket or cracked block? One thing I should mention is when the engines sit on a pallet the lean back so its still possible that water pools at the back above the manifold water jacket.

I found these gaskets leak by far the most when the engine is stone cold. I guess heat make everything expand and seal better. So if the engine was being used it might not of leaked much till it got long periods of nothing. I can see water has weeped out everywhere around intake gaskets long time after it was removed from the car.

[VK_3800]

They were probably half full when the engine was removed from the car...