pontiac grand prix 1998 water in cylinder

[toycam]

hello i was just given a 1998 pontiac grand prix se with a 3.8 v6 with aprox 200, the motor ran great a week ago it wouldnt crank from having water in the cylinder #6 full of coolant and when i drained and started smoked alot but ran smooth.my question is i was going to do head gaskets thats what i assumed it is then i seen TSB on the plastic intake,and on the lower intake gasket and i think i even read these 3800 rarely ever need head gaskets usally it is intake or gaskets.so to the people that know pontiac 3800 grand prixs were should i start in your opinion.oviusly dont want to do head gaskets if it is a intake/gasket i dont know these engines that well and prefer not to waste time or money so thought i would ask.any help greatly apreciated thank you

[tblake]

My opintion would to not run it like this or your going to bend or break a connecting rod. Usually when they fill a cylinder, the UIM is the culprit, but once the UIM is off, its not a bad idea to also change the LIM gaskets.

[richtazz]

I agree 100% with Tim. I would also do a compression test to insure it didn't hydrolock and bend a connecting rod before wasting my time doing the UIM/LIM job for nothing. Cyl's 5 and 6 are the closest to the leak-prone area of the LIM, that is why they fill with coolant first.