"Blown" Ford 351

You could take it to the lake if it is close and back it in still attached to the trailer and start it and duplicate the problem. Water pouring out is not a good thing
If it were me, I would pull the valve covers and loosen all the rocker nuts all the way. Then I would perform a "leak down test" with the pistons at BDC. At BDC you are inspecting the entire bore and usually hear where the problem is. That will tell you far more than a compression test. Leak down gages are readily available. on line but require an air compressor.. Listen for the leakage and that should help pinpoint the problem. Good luck

Thank you, I'm prepared to get dirty. I'll look and see what air compressor options are out there, those are handy to have around anyway. Aiming for a May relaunch of the beauty.

Start simple, pull the plugs and see what you can learn.   
Side by side plugs that look different from all the other cylinders would indicate the head gasket is blown between those two cylinders.
Sounds like you stole this boat. Good luck with your repairs.

sounds to me like she launched it in the spring and the freeze plug being popped out was what put large amounts of water in the bilge. The smoking was probably steamy hot water from the freeze plug hole.

You have water in the oil which combined with the freeze plug issue would make me think the engine wasn't winterized right and it froze.

You could have an internal crack letting water into the oil to go along with your obvious external leak.

Doesn't sound good but I'd put in a new freeze plug, put in a new starter or rebuild the old one. Don't forget if you're getting a new one you have a reverse rotation engine and you need a reverse rotation marine starter Make sure you can turn it over by hand with the plugs out before using the starter.

Then change the oil and start it and run it some and see if you have water in the oil Large amounts of water would say there's an internal crack. A very small amount could be residual water that didn't all come out with the oil change.

If you drain the oil cold, some of the water would settle to the bottom and come out first to give you an idea of how much water is in the oil It might take a few oil changes to get rid of everything. If you can't get rid of it, you probably have an internal crack

It sounds like she didn't run it very long at all so there's probably no milky residue because of the short run time. The plugs could all look good like you said because the water isn't in the cylinders but in the sump.

I'd get it running before doing a leakdown test, because all the cylinders could test just fine in spite of having a cracked block letting water into the oil.

Maybe you'll be lucky..........maybe not

Good advice all around. I'll get it started before doing all the testing. I'm trying not to get too excited about it being something simple.

man I love it when KENO comments. So simple that even I can almost understand...



john


oh yeah...forgot. We need pics. Sounds like you stole it to me.

I think on the Floor at GM or Ford those plugs are called casting plugs but once the engine leaves the factory they somehow become Freeze Plugs in the aftermarket! Must be a metamorphose of some kind. Don't worry William, this is an old inside joke, you will see as time goes by.

8122pbrainard wrote: MrMcD wrote: I think on the Floor at GM or Ford those plugs are called casting plugs but once the engine leaves the factory they somehow become Freeze Plugs in the aftermarket! Must be a metamorphose of some kind. Don't worry William, this is an old inside joke, you will see as time goes by. I think it was Ken's great great grandfather that was a back yard hack, didn't drain an engine, it froze pushing the core plugs out so he changed the name to freeze plugs.

I always wondered where my back yard hack tendencies came from .

Now I know, thanks Pete

No need to take the exhaust manifolds off to do what I mentioned.

It could be an exhaust manifold leak but if you get it running you'll be able to narrow down where the water is coming from.

An exhaust leak puts water in the cylinder(s) and it then has to leak by the rings to get into the oil. If you run it some and pull the plugs and crank it over you'll know if there is water in one or more cylinders when it comes shooting out.

An intake manifold leak just dumps the water straight to the oil in the lifter gallery area and doesn't put any in the cylinders.

A cracked water jacket usually puts oil straight to the sump also.without getting into the cylinders. Usually......not always depending on crack location.

I'd run it , narrow things down to what leaks and what doesn't and then go from there.

You mentioned the spark plugs looking good, that's why I wouldn't dive into the exhaust manifolds just yet.

And before doing anything you want to make sure it turns over with a wrench on the harmonic balancer bolt.

And drain the oil to get an idea if there's a lot of water or a little water in the sump.

You should try turning the engine with the starter now that the plugs are removed.
It may have been hydro locked keeping it from turning.
Fluid does not compress so a piston pushing on water will lock the engine.
Pull the plugs, hit the starter and water may shoot 15 feet out of the spark plug hole.
It's possible the starter is actually good.

ebay

William,
Before you order the starter, take a few minutes and open up the old one. Clean up the commutator and brushes, oil up the bushings and try it again.

Pete, for me it would take a few hours.     Everything I go to do takes 4 times longer than I expected!

Well blow me down, I cleaned the starter and it works now. I got it back and started the engine! Used the fake lake method. It ran for a minute but kept cutting out, bad fuel probably. Anyway it showed me where the water is coming from. It's from the front side behind the alternator. There's a cracked gasket showing there too. I took two picks but not sure how/if I can post them here.

Sounds like progress

Good job on the starter, Pete must be just beaming right now

Are you trying to post pictures from a phone or maybe a laptop/PC?

Realizing that a minute isn't much run time, how does your oil look after you ran it ?

If there's a big internal leak a lot of water can get in in a minute or so on the hose.

I'd hook a temporary tank to the fuel pump and maybe clean the carburetor too, to make further running and testing easier