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Jim Grant's Tech Tips
'97 Ford Pick-up, Troubled -- Waters
Q:
I have
a '97 Ford pickup, and what I thought was the battery, turned out to be
water in the engine My question{s}How costly is this to repair, and can
I do it myself?
-
Sherri
A:
My
question is was it water or coolant? There is a big difference in what
it takes to correct the problem. I can see the heads shaking now wondering
what I mean by water or coolant. Apparently the reason you thought it
was your battery at first was because the engine would not crank or turn
over. This condition is a result of hydrostatic lock. What's hydrostatic
lock? In basic terms, liquids cannot be compressed. Under the right conditions
if a liquid enters the cylinder of an engine, the piston will stop in
its tracks. You can put a 10 foot bar on the engine and jump up and down
for all you're worth and the engine will not turn. From the driver's seat
the engine will act like the battery or starter is bad. Back to water
or coolant. If coolant is entering the engine then the engine will have
to be disassembled until the source is found. If it is, in fact, water
then you must look at the cowling (the finned part in front of the windshield)
as the source and the intake manifold gasket or fuel injector seals as
the path into the engine. I can hear the "yea rights" now, but
I have to tell you if you remove the spark plug and clear water exits
you better be looking at the intake or injectors. Today's engines use
alloids and gasket materials that change at amazing rates with temperature.
Water is one path, coolant is another.
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