3.3 liter w/ 220,000+ miles. Won't start b/c of blown head gasket (or possibly worse). Brother in-law showed up to "rescue" my wife when the van broke down- coolant had leaked out of waterpump weep holes and he added water to cooling system (yes on an overheated vehicle!) I changed the water pump and serpentine belt just to discover vehicle won't start. Coolant shoots out of radiator (when cap is removed) when turning over and also from spark plug holes when spark plugs are out. Hard to tell exactly which holes are spurtin', but the three in front for sure and at least one in the back. Surprisingly very little coolant seems to have leaked into oil pan. Vehicle ran great until it overheated.

I'm hoping someone has experience w/ coolant coming from the spark plug holes when the plugs are out. One guy told me he had this before (different vehicle) and it was a cracked block. I don't want to spend the time/effort replacing the heads and it turns out to be a cracked block. Anyone? I need someone that has experienced this firsthand 'cause we all know there really is only one way to find out if you have a cracked block (unless someone knows something I don't)?

Thanks!

 

You didn't describe how the van was running during and after the overheat. Did your wife shut down the van after she saw the gauge way up (and if so was it running ok at that point), or did it quit on its own? After your BIL added water, did it start up and run well at that point? Finally, did you start and run the van before changing the WP?

 

Yeah I know it's kind of hard to get information from them 'cause they know they screwed up. This is basically what I was told by wifey and BIL:

1. No steam before vehicle broke down, it just died and she coasted off of the road.
2. Vehicle would not restart. When she couldn't reach me she called BIL.
3. BIL showed up, determined vehicle had lost significant amount of coolant. Tried adding water. Wifey tries cranking over. Vehicle won't start- she says no unusual noises, just regular sound of engine cranking over trying to start.
4. Vehicle was towed to the house. When I got to it I can tell waterpump is the problem. Like I said i swapped it out, but vehicle won't start after I change WP.
5. First clue headgasket was blown- coolant was shooting out of radiator when I was turning over w/ cap off.
6. Next major clue came when I was troubleshooting why vehicle won't start- I pulled a plug to see if I got spark, had wifey turn engine over. Fluid shooting from sparkplug hole (first I was like freaking out 'cause I'm like "Oh no it's fuel and the spark from plug gonna fry me!") Then of course I realize it's coolant. I even disconnected the fuel pump to verify coolant and not fuel shooting from spark plug hole.
7. I pulled rest of spark plugs and at least four cylinders have coolant shooting out. Not much making past the rings that I can tell (I do need to drain oil pan to verify though).
8. Vehicle has never started/run since it overheated.

I'm praying block isn't cracked. If it was just the heads/gasket, would that possibly allow enough coolant through to be shooting out of the SP holes like that?

Oh yeah that was a good funny you said too about wifey seeing the gauge way up. My wifey she don't don't know how to read gauges...if your not married yet make sure you pick a spouse that does! Anyway thanks for your time and help...

 

Ok, it's helpful to know the problem likely happened while the van was on the road and running. I'm just a shade tree guy, and haven't personally had coolant being pushed around like you're describing. But I'm going to venture a guess that the fully warmed-up block didn't suddenly crack. I'd suspect a massive head gasket failure, due to being way overheated. Hopefully one of the pros on this forum who have seen stuff like this before can give you their opinion, which would be a lot better than mine.
And BTW, I'm not only married but also have 2 daughters who drive, so I know all about women not watching gauges. And here's a story that you can pass along. Women were getting really tired of men constantly reminding them about the heat gauge. So they complained about that to the auto makers. And the auto makers figured out that the best way to solve that problem would be to simply stop installing heat gauges in new vehicles

 

"And the auto makers figured out that the best way to solve that problem would be to simply stop installing heat gauges in new vehicles".

I wouldn't be surprised.

 

Thanks! I sure hope you're right. If I get more input like yours after a few weeks I'll try to tackle changing out the heads/gaskets.

It's funny about the gauges...I understand now why there was a movement toward the "idiot light" at one time.