changed sparkplugs, found rust
 

Much to my delight, another problem with my car. I changed out the sparkplugs yesterday and noticed rust out of the front most cylinder. Is there anything I can do to clear this up now, or am I basically just waiting until it goes? I've got 20,000 miles on this engine, so i'm hoping there's a way to clean it up without having to spend the money i'd be spending on a new engine. What areas do I need to be checking to fix this in the future, what are possible areas that could be letting the water in?

Thanks,
Dave

Im confused. Where did you notice the rust? On the cylinder head, on the threads? Obviously the head contains some iron. It could just be surface rust like practically every car in the world gets. Nothing to be alarmed about.

the spark plugs have a steel gasket on them. that is probably where the rust came from.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by SCoach
Im confused.

The headgasket is stainless steel and the openings have a gasket all around so that wouldn't be the source of rust either.

Until you give a better description than this, any explanation will just be pure speculation.

So will the rust that's in there not hurt anything? I figured any foreign material in there would eventually lead to problems. I'll be the first to admit that I'm no expert on engines, but I would think that anything in the cylinder whatsoever could change compression, cause uneven piston movement, or some kind of problems I would think. Is the rust sealed out of the cylinder? Rust scares me, it seems like a roach...like it could squeeze its way into anything. It's all over the black, sparkplug cable or whatever it is...the black thing you pull out to get to the spark plugs. And it was on the old sparkplugs that I took out also. So I'm sure there's plenty of it down there. Maybe I'm calling it the wrong thing, when I'm referring to the cylinder, I'm referring to the area from the sparkplugs and up. I don't know if the cylinder is sealed away from this area, or if this area is included. i don't know how an engine is setup.

<quote>
"Until you give a better description than this, any explanation will just be pure speculation."
</quote>

Man, I really can't think of a better way of explaining it. I've got rust. It came out of the front most cylinder. You've got the what and where of the problem. I noticed it yesterday, a general idea of the when. I'm trying to figured out the how. You want a color, measurement in length of the rust, smell, taste, maybe I can find out what its birthday is? What other information would you like, maybe if you give a better discription of what you're wanting to find out, my explanations won't confuse you any further. I know you know a lot about these cars and all, but these boards are for us to learn too. If you truly wanted to help, you would have answered along the lines of, "was it on this, or on that?"...or something I can answer to better give you an idea. You know, when I'm trying to figure out a problem with the engine of my car, I'm more than likely going to try and give you all the info I can in my question. I'm not a rocketscientist, but I would think most people would. So obviously what you're looking for is beyond my observance of the problem, and knowledge on the issue. I'm an idiot, treat all posts like the poster is an idiot. Maybe a clue as to what you're thinking would help, then I could check it out and confirm it or rule that idea out. Answering what you may think is a broad question with a broad statement isn't going to help the problem any. Sorry if it sounds like I'm blowing up, but I take that as a cheap, unwarranted shot. I know you wouldn't have answered my post if you weren't willing to help me out, and believe me I do appreciate your help. You've helped me out on many other posts as well. And I do appologize for blowing up, but in the last 7 months, I've had 2 hit and runs, and 3 acts of vandalism to my car, and now this...so I'm really on edge here. I feel like I provided all the info I could think of...it's not like i said, "I've got a noise coming from my car, what do i need to do?" or something general like that.

What kind of info do you want to know, and maybe I can find out.
Dave

Yes, you are blowing up and this doesn't help your cause any. When you say "cylinder", this means (to most people) the area under the spark plug, between the plug and the top of the piston, encompassed by the cylinder walls (ie, the thing the piston goes up and down in). This wasn't what you meant, was it? So you see, we could not have possibly known what you were talking about. If we were to ask you if it was this or that, we could have listed dozens of things. It's not up to us to guess what you are trying to say. It is up to you to tell us what you are trying to say. It would seem some of the parts you are talking about is made of plastic or rubber. "Rust" (ie, iron oxide) cannot form on plastic or rubber, so it may not even be rust that's being discussed here.

"You want a color, measurement in length of the rust, smell, taste, maybe I can find out what its birthday is?"

You come here looking for answers and you want to lay this silly comment on us? OK, in light of this statement, here's my answer: Based on what you've posted and by your exact description, I don't know.

If the rest of you guys want to take a stab at it, please do. My attempts to gain some clarification has failed and has not been received well.

xviper, I think bgbfflochp may have had a little too much :drunk: or :reefer:

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...img=68957&tn=1 A distinct possibility .............. ;)

(ps. I really didn't think my original post was giving anyone a shot, but over the "net", who knows.)