37 La Salle Engine....?

[Beamon Davis]

hi
ive got a question about the engine of my 37 la salle coupe...it has not ran in 10-15 years as i have just purchased it. In order to make sure the pistons were free, i pulled the plugs, and filled all of the pistons with kerosene....but i noticed that the kerosene i was putting innto the drivers side 2 middle pistons was flowing from one piston into the other...it dosent sound normal to me, but being as to i know very little about engines, i was wondering if this was normal and ok, or if my engine is no good.... thanks for the help.

[Ken]

Sounds like you have a blown head gasket. If the engine will spin with the starter, run a compression test to confirm the blown head gasket.

Ken

[Beamon]

hey...how do i go about getting that done?  also if it is a blown head gasket, what does that mean in terms of repair and cost? thank u

[JIM CLC # 15000]

02-12-05
Beamon, could be that the "valves" are open and it is running thru that way.
But, to be sure, you will have to do the compression test.
Try turning the engine-over useing the large nut on the crank-shaft pully. (to be sure that the engine is free, not frozen.
If it turns-out that the head gasket is bad, it is not a big job to replace it, just be sure that the bolts you remove from the water outlet are NOT installed some where else or you will have BIG problems.
Be sure to drain the radiator and engine block prior to loosening any bolts.
The drain for the block may be a plug or it could be a "petcock". the drain for the radiator should be onthe water pump hose connection/by the lower radiator hose.
Good Luck, Jim