Blown Head Gasket, Now no Start

[01AstroVan]

My friend bought a 2001 Astro cargo van, the owner said it had a bad water pump, little did he know that the head gasket was the issue. at the begining it was just using coolant (no smoke from tail pipe or oil mixing at that point) after about a week of driving the van just stalled while doing about 60km/h and would not start. he had the van towed to my house where after pulling the dip stick and then noticed the milky brown oil about 3 inches past the max line. i know it needs a head gasket. but what i don't understand is how come it won't start? it will just crank for 2 seconds and quick turning. same thing every time i crank. he also said the temp might have gotten up to the max 125 degrees. i have had head gasket problems before but i would always be able to start the vehicle even with milky oil or smoking exhaust. Any ideas how to get this one started at least long enough i can move it out of my driveway to my other garage.

Also on a side note, is this engine worth saving? or is the bearings now compromised with the watery oil?

[1Gary]

Lower intake manifold gasket failure will mix oil and water. At the end of the day,it needs to come apart to see what's what.

[Smiliesafari]

Water in a cylinder will lock it up. Pull the spark plugs and try starting it.

[01AstroVan]

Thanks, i just read up a bit on the engine being cylinder locked with fluid. the the van stalled on the road, my friend cranked several times that night trying to get it started, even i cranked it a bit the following day. How would i know if i damaged the engine internally (valves, connecting rod, etc)

[1Gary]

To determine damage,the only sure way is to take it out and take it apart for a vision inspection. Don't be so convinced it is a blown head gasket. As I said we have seen a number of lower intake manifold gasket failures. But that is being optimistic that there isn't additional damage. If you want a sure thing repair,pull the engine and rebuild as needed.

Again-is there tests you could run??. Sure. But at the end of the day,it needs to come apart anyways.

Have we seen water and oil mixed by a intake gasket leak and still run ok??. Yep. That is pure luck at work.

[1Gary]

One other thing. If you have a breach in the intake gasket,it is possible it creates a vacuum leak where along with the water it will not start.

You trying to just run to get into another location increases the chances of damage. Tow it or have it flatbed to where it needs to go. Where I say flatbed it,it is in consideration of it being a AWD. Those you really shouldn't tow without running the engine. You can tow it a "short distance" if it is a AWD or pull the drive shafts. All and all the possibility of further damage by running,to have towed it cheaper.

[Smiliesafari]

When you remove the spark plugs, spin the motor over several times. That will clear the water from the cylinders. Drain the water from the motor and radiator. That will prevent any additional water from entering the cylinders. Now, do a compression test. That will tell you if the head gaskets are blown. If all of the cylinder pressures are at spec or really close the head gaskets are probably OK. Now put the spark plugs back in. Hook up everything necessary for the motor to run. Without replacing the water in the system start the motor. If it runs OK then your problem is probably lower intake gaskets. It is a very common problem. A lot of the guys on this site have done this repair. It's not hard but it is time consuming. Good luck.

[1Gary]

When you remove the spark plugs, spin the motor over several times. That will clear the water from the cylinders. Drain the water from the motor and radiator. That will prevent any additional water from entering the cylinders. Now, do a compression test. That will tell you if the head gaskets are blown. If all of the cylinder pressures are at spec or really close the head gaskets are probably OK. Now put the spark plugs back in. Hook up everything necessary for the motor to run. Without replacing the water in the system start the motor. If it runs OK then your problem is probably lower intake gaskets. It is a very common problem. A lot of the guys on this site have done this repair. It's not hard but it is time consuming. Good luck.

That's a good call Skip.Only thing I question is,you know how you can drop off the bottom hose on the rad and still have water below the water pump in the engine.Guess it doesn't matter as long as the w/p doesn't pick up any of the remaining water in the block or maybe you leave off the bottom hose to have it pumped into a catch pan while your cranking it over.

To take out the s/plugs jack it up and take off the wheels.Driver's side mostly,you need to remove the plugs through the wheel well.Just move the rubber flap out of your way.