Head gasket or intake leak?

Frankenstang65 · 09-12-2002, 12:41 AM

Ok, so heres the deal...

I've been having a lot of trouble getting my car to run well lately, especially starting it when the car was at all warm. The starter would try to crank it over, but it was like the motor was siezed up...I'd let it cool, and it would usually fire right up.

Around this same time I noticed that I was going through a lot of water. I also noted a "puff puff puff" sound coming from the area right around the #4 cyl.

Suspectng some sort of leak I pulled the spark plugs on that side of the motor and cranked it over...sure enough a healthy amount of water came spraying out of the #4. A firend told me that the reason the car was hard to start when warm was becuase of the water was seeping in on top of the piston and causing a "hydrostatic lock".

So now I know I've got a leak, but is there anyway to know whether or not it is coming from the head gasket or possibly the intake manifold? It seems like all signs are pointing to a head gasket, but I would hate to pull the heads if it was being sucked it through the intake the whole time. It would just be nice to know for sure.

Would a compression test tell me? At this point that is the only thing I can think of.

Any advice or insight would be great...thanks!!

09-12-2002, 12:41 AM	#1
Frankenstang65 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 79	Head gasket or intake leak? Ok, so heres the deal... I've been having a lot of trouble getting my car to run well lately, especially starting it when the car was at all warm. The starter would try to crank it over, but it was like the motor was siezed up...I'd let it cool, and it would usually fire right up. Around this same time I noticed that I was going through a lot of water. I also noted a "puff puff puff" sound coming from the area right around the #4 cyl. Suspectng some sort of leak I pulled the spark plugs on that side of the motor and cranked it over...sure enough a healthy amount of water came spraying out of the #4. A firend told me that the reason the car was hard to start when warm was becuase of the water was seeping in on top of the piston and causing a "hydrostatic lock". So now I know I've got a leak, but is there anyway to know whether or not it is coming from the head gasket or possibly the intake manifold? It seems like all signs are pointing to a head gasket, but I would hate to pull the heads if it was being sucked it through the intake the whole time. It would just be nice to know for sure. Would a compression test tell me? At this point that is the only thing I can think of. Any advice or insight would be great...thanks!! __________________ 1965 Coupe: 351W, comp cam, Aluminum Systemax II heads (2.02/1.60), 1.7 Cobra full roller rockers, Edelbrock intake, Holley 650 double pumper, Mallory Unilite, MSD-6AL, MSD Blaster 2 coil, MSD heli-core plug wires, Hedman headers, 2 1/2" exhaust (GT style) w/ 40 series delta flows, 69 C4 w/ shift kit, shelby traction bars, 3.55:1 rear Daily Driver: 1989 GT- 5spd, K&N (no silencer), Shorty Headers, King Cobra Clutch, Flowmaster Force II Cat-back

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