OK, I just blew one of my head gaskets today from overheating I think. No big deal.. The only thing I'm worried about is the water leak is so big that I started it up and it spit about 10 ounces of water out my exhaust. I turned it off and tried to start it again but the starter won't turn the motor, I'm guessing cause there's too much water in one of the chambers. Is the motor fine after I fix my gasket or am I screwed? Isn't there something called hydrolock?

 

Check your coolant level to see if you're missing some. Also check your oil and if it's contaminated drain it. I'd advise not running the motor like this. Change the oil immediately.

 

sounds to me like ya hydralocked it. thats bad. that could ben a rod, bent the crank, or even worse as breaking a rod or piston. if it were me this is where i would pull the motor and tear it down. but thats just me.

 

Pull all your spark plugs, then try to turn it. If you still cant.... time to rebuild it

 

Seriously, if you have some real bucks in the motor you might want to pull it and check the rods for straightness (at the very least).

If a rod is tweaked it has a good chance of putting an axial load on the crank (pushing it toward the front or the rear of the block). Eventually that will destroy your thrust bearings, your crank, and possibly your block.

If it is a stock motor and you could replace it cheaply then you might want to drive it till it drops.

 

here's an example of a rod that looked straight at time of rebuild but obviously wasn't. I ended up sprapping more the I savlaged.

 

another

 

Ah yes, interesting paper weights.

I remember when I blew up my Dad's Olds 455 motor. It is truly amazing to see forged steel bent like taffy. Gives you a lot of respect for the forces involved.

Say, (tangent here) have you ever heard of an engine blowing (stock engine) and sending a rod or part of one through the hood? I heard about this but never saw it. Not sure if it was BS.

 

Ive seen a toyota camary (like a 90 model) that through a rod straight through the top...STILL ran to. Not good but it did run on 3 cyclinders and dropping oil like mad. He drove it from his house and got about 10 miles before it died...then he pushed it over a hill LOL

 

Well that pic was when I had a 350 in my boat and had just rebuilt it and it let go at 3000rpm. When my brother and I got home, he just into the engine compartment and says, "what the hell did I just step on?" Thats when the reaches down and pics up the rod bearing. Then he shines a flashlight towards the bottom and we find the 4 inch hole in the side of the oil pan that it had come out of. Later on we found the cap in the pile of oil laying in the bottom boat. Eventually pulling the pan was interesting too. It looked like someone has sprinkled a bunch of pepper in the bottom but all it was, was ground up steel. Live and learn I guess.