I've never seen an engine that didn't have a nut on the crankshaft (harmonic balancer), but it may be so. What holds the harmonic balancer on?

I'd just about bet you have water in a cylinder or two, if not all of them. Did you pull just one side off? If so, try pulling whatever plugs you can reach the easiest on that side, then try to turn it over. A riser leak is the number one cause of catastrophic engine failure. I wouldn't run it again, until you find out. Bent rods and such lovely things as that can be caused by leaking risers. Hopefully, it is a small amount of water leaking, if any. If the rings are still good, not much water would leak past them into the oil. Let's hope for the best.

Good luck.

There are three nuts that hold the lower pulley on, just not anything in the center of it to use.

It will not be run again until this is resolved, that is for sure.


Man, just like with my truck and other projects, this has me just about literally sick. I can't even kid myself into being tired enough to lay down and sleep, I'm just so stressed and feeling dumb about causing this. And to think, two hours ago I was still thinking I had a starter problem.

Really appreciate the help, I'm thinking my best bet is to let someone who does this for a living straighten this out for me. Even though it will cost me, I think I am about done with playing mechanic for now.

So, in conclusion tonight, this more than likely IS caused by a bad riser gasket seal?

Once cleared, gasket replaced and oil changed I could be on my way, lesson learned?

I bet you will be OK. Just remove the plugs and check for water. If you are not seeing water in the oil a change or two should clean it up. Change the riser gasket in any case.

If you do find water in the cylinders I would put a little oil in through the spark plug holes and crank it over a few time before firing it. Might want to listen for something bent inside or run a compression test. I don't know if a compression test would point to a bent rod but it could not hurt to check. If something is bent I bet it would be cheaper to fix it before firing it up.

Hydro Lock.


I got the outer side plugs out, one cylinder gushed water just taking the plug out. I turned it over (which my new starter did with ease this time) a and it shot some more water out of that cylinder, maybe one other. 3 out of 4 of the plugs are rusty and look VERY old.

I re-checked the oil, it looks golden and clear, not a millimeter higher or lower than when I changed it 7 hours ago.

I will be doing an oil and filter change, is there anything else I need to look at? There never was any bad sounds coming from that side, nothing out of the ordinary as far as I could hear, but as you can probably tell from my stories, I'm not mechanic.

Drain that exhaust manifold. Leave hose feeding it off. Start and run engine on hose for about 10 seconds until it smooths out to dry motor internally. You must have a bad exhaust manifold and or riser. If you separate the two you can inspect for holes or cracks. Don't let sit it will lock up a day or two.
Jim

The riser gasket was missing a piece, between the inside an outside chambers (excuse my ignorance).

That will do it, correct?

Does the engine sound fine when turning over? If so, new gaskets (be sure to clean the old one's off completely), and new plugs you should be ok. I use Marvel Mystery Oil when I prelube the cylinders. It's also THE BEST for freeing up a frozen engine.

Good luck.

Yes, it sounds totally normal. (Sounds a little funny with the one side plugs out, but that is to be expected).

I have MMO, will use it if I can devise a way to get it in there.

Check for excessive steam coming out the exhaust. I had a leaky riser gasket and developed a "steamy" condition, noticably at idle and getting on plane. Also some blue smoke at idle. Valves got pitted and one tulipped and bent a valve guide.

Yes, steam (we thought it was a light haze/smoke) is one of my symptoms.

I have both of the surfaces clean on one side of the port motor, I am going out to finish up that side now.