Engine Running Very Hot, Backfiring

[billyd]

hey, My 71' Javelin is backfiring from what sounds like its from the right side. The exhaust coming out of the right tail pipe is very hot compared to the left and water sprays out the right tailpipe everytime it pops, and the engine itself feels alot hotter on the right side..i know it sounds a little wonky but..any ideas?

[304_dude]

Three things come to mind...

Your gonna have to pull the right side head for all three.

Test first by seeing if there are air bubbles in the radiator while the engine runs with the cap off. The air bubbles are from the escaping gases during combustion.

Easiest fix first.

1) Blown head gasket... Why water is comming out of the tail pipe. The reason is steam is best at transfering heat than hot dry air. Though common I never had experienced backfiring.

2) Cracked head... costly to fix.

3) Cracked cylinder wall. This also can be very costly.

I have driven cars with all three conditions but did not have a ping or backfire...

Which comes to another possible answer.

I have a feeling that you may have had detonation at one time which may have blown a small hole in the piston. This will do the following through time.

Pinging at first... and heat build up in the cylinder which could will crack the wall or head and cause steam in the exhaust during accelaration. If it continue serious damage to the engine. If gas gets down into the engine through the hole during starting... your backfire. You could have a serious bang, which could serously cause more damage elsware within the engine.

[AMX-68]

another way to look for a blown head gasket - with the car cool open the radiator cap and turn on the engine. when the thermostat opens, look for bubbles coming up in the radiator - bubbles = blown heads

[AMX-68]

if not for the water coming out of the tailpipe it almost sounds like a timing issue.

[ChevelleSSLS6]

I have heard that the rear cylinders run hotter than the fronts, I believe that there was some sort of modification that could fix this.

Other than that, it's already been covered (cracked head, cylinder, blown gasket...)