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What does radiator water in the cylinder well indicate?

Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Asked by TheLegendaryCopyCoder on March 1, 2021

The vehicle was running fine last week.

Stood for a few days and then when put under load (flooring it) the 2nd cylinder was found to be misfiring.
Popped off the engine cover and removed the 2nd cylinder’s ignition coil, found the well had coolant water in it.

Drained the well and cleaned the coil. The misfiring problem was resolved. (For now)

Does coolant fluid in the cylinder well indicate gasket failure again?

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Update

Vehicle running fine after removing all water (with paper towels) and replacing two coils damaged by (I assume) water. See conclusion below for more info.

Vehicle Information

  • 2010 Ford Focus ST 2.5
  • Engine: B5254T

Head Gasket Service

Date: Approximately 2-3 months ago

Cylinder head testing and reconditioning. (passed pressure test but found a slight warp in the head which was corrected)

Parts replaced

  1. Head bolts
  2. Head gasket
  3. Cam seals
  4. Intake gasket
  5. Exhaust gasket
  6. Thermostat housing

Questions and Answers

  1. "Any coolant pipes running close to that location?" No nothing.
  2. "Are you sure it’s coolant?" Yes.

Conclusion

Excuse my delay in responding back.
The problem I tracked to the flushing process which resulted in coolant/water spilling over onto the engine cover protecting the ignition harness and coils. Water quite easily makes it passed the engine cover and pools up and then leaks passed the ignition coils into the plug holes causing spark problems.

3 Answers

Does coolant fluid in the cylinder well indicate gasket failure again?

Indeed it does! Or it may also mean that the original problem was not actually a head gasket. The next likely causes are warped or cracked cylinder head or engine block.

Answered by jwh20 on March 1, 2021

Were the heads decked (checked and milled perfectly flat) when you last had the head gasket replaced? This indicates that they weren't, and you'll never get a good seal if there is any warping on the heads.

Answered by PeteCon on March 1, 2021

Unless there is something different about your engine, I can’t see how a leaking head gasket could cause coolant to get to the the plug hole. Maybe a crack in the head would allow coolant there.

Often the plug hole is surrounded by oil in the rocker cover and a leaking seal will let oil get to the plug, but not coolant.

Are there coolant pipes running near this plug hole?

If there are no coolant pipes nearby, my guess would be a crack in the head.

Answered by HandyHowie on March 1, 2021

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