Blowlamp to dry it off.

Have you seen the water coming down the bores? the water would have to be pouring past the pistons to be pouring out the sump.

TT

Not yet, I still need to get the inlet manifold off to confirm my suspicions. It's just the water came out the sump faster when the engine was tilted back (front of the car jacked up) which made me think it was pooling at the back by cylinder 4 more and increasing the flow down thru the pistons. I was thinking once I have the inlet off I could test it somehow by pouring more water into the head at the back at the thermostat and see if it tracks it way thru to the inlet manifold and then down the 4th cylinder?

If water is pouring past the pistions then you have a BIG problem. If the engine was running fine before then I doubt you have such an issue unless the engine has stood for years.

There's realy only 2 routs for water to enter the sump.

1) From the head gasket between a water and oilway.
2) From a failure of a cast ( head or block damage )

Have you taken the cam cover off yet? it's possible water is entering this area and going down the filling hole.

TT

Well the engine stood for about 9 months without fluids after I bought it until now. Is the cam cover the same as the rocker cover? I've taken that off to have a look and there's no sign of any water in there.

The piston have to compress air/fuel mix to hundreds of psi for the engine to run correctly if unpressurized water is getting past the piston ring then the engine is scrap. More than likely like TT is thinking is that the head gasket has not sealed correctly. Did you check the head was not warpped before fitting a new gasket?

Now you have the engine cranking do a compression test could give some idea to whats going on

Must be a pretty big problem to get the problems you describe

Going back a step did you drill/tap the hole in the manifold while it was on the head? When engine was stood it would not have had antifreeze in as you were topping it up to get home, so is there any chance of frost damage from residual water in the block/head.

It didn't look warped when I changed the gasket but is there some way to check other than with your eye?

no it was on the bench...

again i dont think so as it was drained of fluids and the engine taken out and sat inside on the garage floor over the winter.

Engineers steel ruler is the way to check for head warping, however it would still have to be quite bad for POURING water. The water is under atmospheric pressure and gravity, it is not being pushed past any obstical.

You may have some luck if you take the cam cover off and Identify the oil gallery that returns from the head to the block (the one used during filling) Stick a torch over it ( or use a long swab ) and see if you can see water flowing or water residue.

I think, that unless you can find something obvious, the head will have to come off to Identify the route the leak. is taking. and then reversing the direction to see the source.

TT

Well I plan to get the inlet manifold off tonight and have a look there for signs of water and then like you've said the head will have to come off for a look to see what the score is. I'll be gutted if I have scrap the engine :(