'98 Explorer Sport w/ water in cylinder

[locachique]

I've recently noticed that the truck has been running rough, real rough. I took it in and had it looked at thinking possibly the Cat Conv was going. Come to find out that there was water in one of the cylinders. I was told that was a symptom of a blown head gasket. I thought to have a blown head gasket the truck would have to at least run hot, it's never run hot. They put a new spark plug in for now till I decide what to do.

Is this a correct diag? If so, is the only fix $3,500 worth of work or to trade it in.

[denisb]

You can get a blown head gasket without running the truck hot. Gasket deteriorate with time and fall apart due to defects and such. The diagnossis sounds valid if all the right tests were performed. If the mechanic that did the diagnossis is reliable I would trust his diagnossis to some extent.

Sometimes it's hard to distinguish, even for the best of mechanics, without taking the motor appart. He could take the head off, replace the gasket and then later you can find out you have a cracked head. The symptoms are very similar for both.

Good luck,

Denis

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by locachique

I've recently noticed that the truck has been running rough, real rough. I took it in and had it looked at thinking possibly the Cat Conv was going. Come to find out that there was water in one of the cylinders. I was told that was a symptom of a blown head gasket. I thought to have a blown head gasket the truck would have to at least run hot, it's never run hot. They put a new spark plug in for now till I decide what to do.

Is this a correct diag? If so, is the only fix $3,500 worth of work or to trade it in.

Find a good repair shop that has and can run a chemical block check for head gasket leakage.
It hooks into the top of rad and will show exhaust gas in coolant system.

[hughw]

I have a gasket seepage on the outside of both heads on my 95 exployer
I treated it by running a bottle of gasket seallant through the coollant system and that helped a lot but I still have some seepage...Looks like I will have to pull the heads and replace the gasket...I see no sign that there is any seepage inside the cylenders...Looks like you have a head gasket job
in the future too...good luck