| Subject: | Water in spark plugs |
| Question: | This is my son's car.
The check engine light went on. He continued to drive the car. Later
the car started missing a lot. Now cannot start it. He took the spark
plugs out. There is antifrez and water in the plugs. |
| Answer: | Orlando, Check engine lights should never be ignored. Engineers put them there to warn drivers of potentially deadly issues. Some moisture on your spark plug isn't uncommon. There are little
evaporation holes put on your plug wires to release this moisture.
But your son's problem sounds a lot more serious. If you're seeing
straight antifreeze in your spark plug wells, chances are you have
a cracked head. Typically, many people crack their cylinder head
by over torquing their spark plugs. If the head is cracked, your
engine will have little or no compression. And if coolant continues
to enter the spark plug wells from the crack, you will not get a
spark. Hence, the engine will never start. |