Water in Engine

[Andrew L]

Ok so Saturday morning I woke up to a really sluggish LS and when I took it on the highway it started misfiring bad. The CEL came on and started flashing right away which I know is misfiring. After a long drive it finally stopped misfiring mostly but started up again when I would take turns or accelerate on a hill. I took the engine cover off and didn't see any water. This happened to me earlier this year, when taking the cover off I saw a huge puddle of water on the block where the 3 visible spark plugs are.

After not seeing water I took it to autozone today to get a CEL check. It came up as a spark plug number 5 misfire so I instantly though it must be a Coil. I drove it home and it was misfiring BAD worse than yesterday. I pulled the coil off and sure enough the spark plug well was FILLED with water in number 5. I checked the other 2 on that side and they too were filled with water.

Is this common? How the hell is water getting in there? I am going to check the other 2 now but its blowing my mind how water is getting in here. My father thinks I may have a crack in the engine block now.

Just an FYI it is a 2004 V6.

I got all the water out of the wells and now it seems to be running fine but still water should not be getting in there.

 

[joegr]

Is it water or coolant?
Water could only come from rain or driving through water.
Coolant could come from a bad hose or cracked plastic cooling system part. A cracked block is not a realistic concern. (Assuming that you are running coolant that is a 50/50 antifreeze mix. It you are using straight water for coolant, then I can't help you.)

 

[Andrew L]

It doesn't look like coolant, its like yellowish/brownish water.

 

[joegr]

It doesn't look like coolant, its like yellowish/brownish water.

What does your coolant look like? (If you haven't flushed it in the last two or three years, it would probably be yellowish brown.)

How's your coolant level? Are you having to add to it now and then?

Did it rain just before you found the water?

 

[Andrew L]

Coolant level is fine, there are no signs of anything leaking, top of the engine is all dry

here are some pics

 

[joegr]

Coolant level is fine, there are no signs of anything leaking, top of the engine is all dry...

Looks like engine oil, not water. (note that 5W20 is quite thin) The fix would be to replace the valve cover gasket sets.

 

[jolinc01]

Check you cowl area between the windshield & hood for leaks if you think its water. That's the only place I know that water can leak from. I'd lean more oil than anything though.

 

[Quik LS]

yep - TSB 05-16-02