coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

First off, I have a fully built b16 for boost (minus sleeves), but I haven't put my turbo kit on yet as I'm still putting everything together the way I want it..

Well, today I was sitting at a light and my idle began to surge, and eventually fell below 500 rpm, so i tapped the throttle and it just sounded like garbage, so I pulled over and started checking everything.. when I pulled out the plug wire for #2 it was drenched in coolant, so I pulled the rest out and it was the only one that got soaked.. so I cleaned it off and put it all back together and it has ran fine since..

I'm running ARP head studs and a cometic headgasket, so do you think the head may have lifted for a second and let coolant in? and pushed up on the next stroke?? that's the only logically thing i can come up with, but the spark plugs have an air tight seal between the combustion chamber and the plug wires.. so wtf??

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

failure

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

Highly unlikely your head is lifting if you have properly torqued ARPs. Was the head and block deck surfaced or at least checked for flatness when the motor was assembled?

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

eat a dick

yep..

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

drink half a case and come back :-*

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

NO U


it's strange because the car has been running great for months.. and after I cleaned up the plug and wire it has ran normal. I'm really perplexed by this. I guess i'll be doing a compression and leak down test tomorrow.

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

its external, do a coolant system preasure test

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

you know for sure that it was coolant? i have to pull my plug wires out after every rainstorm because my spark plug holes get filled with water and i cant even touch the throttle without it missing.

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

you drive with no hood man?

j/k


lifting head would make your water jackets charged with combustion air, coolant wouldn't go into the cylinders...14psi on the coolant system vs. combustion pressure....coolant won't leak in, combustion would go out leading to air pockets, overheating, and pushing coolant.

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

while your engine is running, coolant will not go into your cylinders unless you have a cracked cylinder wall like this:


Attachment 19569


That's what happens to a single cam pushin 26psi with stock sleeves. They just can't take it!

Ran strong for a month (no detonation) Then one day pullin in 3rd gear, Pop! and plooms of white smoke (coolant) but the engine was still running... just like crap.

Shut it off for a few seconds, tried to re-start and it HYDROLOCKED from coolant dripping in.

But if you had coolant in the top where you put the spark plug wire in, that's external.
Your plug may have had coolant on it because when you pulled it out, there was coolant at the bottom.

Coolant level fine? and engine runs fine now? I wouldn't worry about it then.

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

no, just a home made hood scoop. TMIC FTL :1
Attachment 19568

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

Dumb question but do you have the wrong plug wires? I know when my uncle had my car, he apparently put the wires meant for a vtec Lude in it or something... long story short, the boots on the top leaked water down into the spark plug chambers. Just a thought, good luck on hunting it down.

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

maybe a crack in the head??

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

I'm not sure really.. It hasn't happened again, so I guess i'll forget about it for now.

Doesn't really make sense to me how it happened.. oh well :-\

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

i have had the sme problembut it was from washing the engine bay.. kinda odd how it just showed up there it wasnt on the actuall ignition point of the plug i have had that happen from detonation, the motor was fried.

Re: coolant soaked spark plug in cylinder #2 only?
 

water around the lead will definitely cause a total loss of spark on that cylinder (easiest route to ground). I fail to understand how coolant got on top of yoru engine though. Now that I understand what you are talking about, I doubt its a headgasket failure or similar.

How does coolant end up there? strange.