Pistons have coolant ***help***

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Rob38e

Rob38e

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Hello, could someone please provide some feedback. I recently had a gasket leak coming from the timing chain cover. So I decided to replace it with a new gasket plus cam and new lifters since I was removing all the parts that accessed the cam. Well i figured since I was removing the intake manifold to replace the lifters I might as well buy new aluminum heads. So this is were my problem starts; when I removed the heads, the drivers side pistons were filled with coolant. The original gasket leak was also on that side. Now my question is, can I drain the coolant and if I cannot get most of it out will that affect anything or will it evaporate away. I guess what im asking is whether I can start putting everything back together and not have any issues with some coolant still inside the engine.
 
Hello, could someone please provide some feedback. I recently had s gasket leak coming fron the timing chain cover. So I decided to replace it with a new gasket plus cam and new lifters since I was removing all the parts that accessed the cam. Well i figured since I was removing the intake manifold to replace the lifters I might as well buy new aluminum heads. So this is were my problem starts; when I removed the heads, the drivers side pistons were filled with coolant. The original gasket leak was also on that side. Now my question is, can I drain the coolant and if I cannot get most of it out will that affect anything or will it evaporate away. I guess what im asking is whether I can start putting everything back together and not have any issues with some coolant still inside the engine.
20190325_101601.jpg
 
Imho. Assuming the rad fluid got into the cylinders when you removed the heads. I would soak up all you can with towels. Spray liberally with oil. Blot the oil. Clean everything you can and reassemble.

A must is to change the oil before restart.

You don't want the rad fluid sitting in the cyl.
 
If you wait long enough the coolant will pool under the oil in the pan (oil floats) and when you drain it, you'll get coolant, then oil. Your motor will be able to handle small amounts of water ingress through condensation and humidity, but oil that looks like a dark green milkshake is bad.
 
U need to get it all out. Do u have a shop vac? Soak it up with rags or paper towels. It u have an air compressor u can blow the last little bit out. KimKim
 
So as long I drain the oil I should be ok? I managed to soak the coolant with a towel and even utilized a tranfer pump that I stuck thought one of the opening on th block. Unfortunately I can still see some in there wih a flashlight . Will the remaining coolant flush with the oil change?
 
Did you drain all of the coolant before pulling the heads? It is not uncommon to get coolant in the cylinders when you remove the heads if you did not remove the drain plugs from the block. As long as no coolant gets into the crankcase, you should be fine. Of course you need to change the oil and filter before starting it up, and again after breaking in the cam. When draining it the first time, look for signs of coolant in the drain pan, the old saying "oil and water don't mix" is evident if there is coolant present. As Oldkimmer said, it is imperative that you get ALL of it out of the cylinder bores before reinstalling the heads, also wouldn't hurt to wipe down the cylinder walls with oil too.
 
oldkimmer said:
U need to get it all out. Do u have a shop vac? Soak it up with rags or paper towels. It u have an air compressor u can blow the last little bit out. KimKim
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Yes I managed to soak up the surface with a towel and used a trasnfer pump to get most of it out. I can still see a bit in there. Will this be enough not to cause any harm and will an oil change drain the remaining coolant?? Thank u for your feedback
 
Change the oil and filter, if you need to, change them more than once, it's cheap insurance, and peace of mind, a few bucks for an oil change versus a lot for a new set of bearings and a crankshaft resize.
 
missing linc said:
Did you drain all of the coolant before pulling the heads? It is not uncommon to get coolant in the cylinders when you remove the heads if you did not remove the drain plugs from the block. As long as no coolant gets into the crankcase, you should be fine. Of course you need to change the oil and filter before starting it up, and again after breaking in the cam. When draining it the first time, look for signs of coolant in the drain pan, the old saying "oil and water don't mix" is evident if there is coolant present. As Oldkimmer said, it is imperative that you get ALL of it out of the cylinder bores before reinstalling the heads, also wouldn't hurt to wipe down the cylinder walls with oil too.
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Yes drained all coolant plus I had to remove the radiator. As soon as I roke the head free coolant started to pour out. The driver side head was dry no coolant. FYI I did not remove the drain plugs form the block, is there one on each side? and were is it typically located? T
Is it to late to drain through the drain plug.
 
Yes one on each side right above the oil pan rail. Had you removed these two 1/4" NPT plugs, you would not have gotten the coolant in the cylinders. If you remove them and nothing comes out, use a screwdriver to poke in the block hole and bust the crud that is holding it in.
 
Block drains are located just above the oil pan rail on the bottom of the block, typically will require a 3/8" square drive, some will be a square head plug, 7/16 or maybe 1/2 inch wrench fits them. They will likely very tight, one per side, good idea to still take them out to prevent further problems on reassembly.
 
missing linc said:
Block drains are located just above the oil pan rail on the bottom of the block, typically will require a 3/8" square drive, some will be a square head plug, 7/16 or maybe 1/2 inch wrench fits them. They will likely very tight, one per side, good idea to still take them out to prevent further problems on reassembly.
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Wish I would have known this before hand smh. Ill be back at it tomm, will try and see if I can locate them and drain the remaining coolant. This project turned out to be more than I expected. :mad:
 
Yes do an oil change before you crank over the engine. That way, as Pistha mentioned, you won't pull the coolant from under the oil in the pan into the engine. For that matter I would just pull the drain plug now and let it drip till you have the engine back together.

As long as the level of the coolant is below the areas you are working on you don't need to remove anymore from the block.

Are you going to get it all back together in a few days or months? if days just get er done. if months I would make sure the cyl walls are coated with an oil type substance, engine oil or other spray oil, (probably not penetrating oil)
 
I would change it, put some cheap oil in it, crank it over a lot, then change it again.
 
Blow out what you can from the top side. Pour a 1/2" of Sea Foam on top of the Pistons and let it sit for a couple of days. This will rinse the anti-freeze out of the ring grooves and run it down into the pan, leave the drain plug out and catch into an oil drain pan. This should show you the green anti-freeze that came out.

Also the Seafoam loosens up the Carbon Deposits around the rings and ring grooves, resulting in some pretty Black Oil coming out of the bottom of the oil pan. Rings will work better and better compression too. Pour another quart of new oil over the camshaft holes, this will run into the pan and out the drain plug helping to clean out the inside bottom of the oil pan.

Good To Go ! Have fun putting your engine back together, not to worry . . .
 
This is where a wet dry vac is your best friend. Like the other said this happens and isn't the of the world it just needs cleaned up and if its going to sit oil the cylinders and deck surface.
 
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