On Mar 16, 10:56*pm, Jon Elson wrote:
stryped wrote:
When I pulled out the plugs the best I could tell they were ok. Looked
worn. Except number 3. It looked wet but not drenched. Also, On this
plug, the porcelane on the bottom of the plug around the gap was
broken, also, the grounding part that curves over (The part you adjust
the gap) was brken in half and missing.

Cranking with no spark plugs, light vaporized mist or or something
came from most of the holes but #3 I could tell had more coming out.
It was like water or droplets as I cranked much heavier than the rest.

I took a piece of winshield washer hose and stuck it down a few of the
spark plug holes and sucked with my mouth. (Probably not smart). Never
really got much of anythign out with the exception of #3. There was
some gas in there but also a sweet taste. (Would this be antifreeze?)

Yes, for certain. *You really want to have a stiff
drink after getting antifreeze in your body.
(Believe it or not, that is the recommended ER
protocol, although they do it intravenously.)

Anyway, if you want to find out if the bearings
are going to seize before deciding to pull the
head, etc. why not change the oil and drive it a
while. *Watch the coolant level, and maybe have
somebody follow you in case it has a major fit
like blowing a radiator hose off. *If it is a
small leak in the head gasket, you can probably
drive it gently for 10 - 20 miles without making
things much worse. *If it is a large leak, then it
is going to start blowing steam all over the
place. *You might want to leave the radiator cap
off so if it starts blowing a lot of gas into the
coolant that has somewhere to escape easily. *If
nothing unusual happens over that distance, then
you have a good chance that there's no great
damage. *If it is blowing lots of white smoke out
the exhaust, though, that probably shows it is a
larger leak, and you probably shouldn't drive it.
* Antifreeze washes the oil film off the cylinder
walls. *On an aluminum cylinder engine like the
Vega L-4, engine life was about 2 minutes under
this condition. *A steel block engine can
withstand it more, but it still eats up the
cylinders after a while.

Jon

I was told at midas it blew so much white smoke they had to open the
bay doors. The cylinder heads are cast iron.

I will say I started it right up and drove it off the tow truck at my
house and let it idle for a minute with no problem.

I would like to fix it but I dont want ot put a bunch of money in it
and soin a bearing or soemthing.