350 head gasket replacement...somethin went wrong

Hey guys, im new to this forum and lookin for some help. i replaced the head gaskets on my 1999 gmc 2500 w/ 350. My first time doing it alone. i read alot of good insite in these forums and others on the valve adjusting. I thought i did good. when i finished and turned the motor over i got horrible results. it turned over a couple times and i heard a "noise". being stupid and not seeing anything i turned it again and it wouldn't turn over at all. I removed all the spark plugs and fuel poured out of #6 cylinder.(lots of fuel) anybody know why that happened and any suggestions on what to do??
Thank you for reading this
Rookie wrench turner, Nate


Register now (free) or login to remove ads

It sounds to me that for some reason the #6 cylinder filled up with fuel on its compression stroke. This would explain why the engine didn't turn over anymore. What kind of fuel injection are you running? TBI? It sounds like you may have screwed the pooch on your valve adjustment.

im not sure on the FI. its a 99 2500hd vortec is all i know. valve adjustment....start over? or is it broke??

Thinking further about your problem I hope that noise you heard wasn't the #6 intake valve hitting the piston. What kind of noise was it?

as much as i dont want to say, the noise could have been that. it had that kinda sound. hard to put sound into words but my stomach just turned upside down

Don't get so upset. These are just guesses from my limited experience. It would take a pretty big error on the valve adjustment for the valve to hit the piston. I did a quick search on google and I think you have throttle body injection or TBI for short. This means that you don't have individual injectors for each cylinder.

I would check all the valves again (do more research on proper adjustment just to be sure you were doing it right the first time).

I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in.

Looks like youve got your work cut out. Have you tried turning the engine over with the plugs out? If it will turn over, you may want to do a compression test.

If you had that much fuel in the cylinder you may have hydraulic lock and bent a connecting rod.

Vince

It turns over fine without the plugs. will do a compression test (after i do my honeydo's )

nick8 - not getting upset, just thought i did my research, no worries. Thanks for the help.

Vince - hydraulic lock????? sounds bad.

Sorry to say it but I bet my last dollar you bent a rod. liquids does not compress very well. I did the same thing on my TPI motor. Bad injector and it fill the cyl with fuel and when I turned it over I heard a funny noise and the motor locked waited a minute and tried again but the damage was done. It started but the bottom of the piston was hitting the crank. Pulled it apart and had a bent rod.. I still have it hanging on the wall.