Water in Cylinder

I have a '72 Mustang 302, and I was pulling the spark plugs today to see if I could get some tranny fluid in the cylinders to un-sieze the engine, but as I was pulling the spark plug from the 3rd cylinder, brown muddy water just starts pouring out. It wasnt just a little dribble, but a waterfall coming out of the plug hole. What does this mean for me? I've heard a bunch of different theories, but I'd really appreciate some definite ideas as to what this means.  

The answer depends on how it got there and how long it has been there.  A cylinder full of water will lock the engine up.  Can you turn it with all the plugs out?  Was the engine outside such that rain could get in?  If not, that might be radiator water and a significant problem.  

A waterlogged engine can be brought back to life without major disassembly if it wasn't that way very long.  
Bill

1966 coupe
1995 Cobra R

"Signifcant" is right especially if it's been sitting for a while. If it hasn't been exposed to outside water sources ( or even if it has, at minimum you have a head(s) to remove to see if the haed gasket is blown or if the head or block is cracked.  If you pull all the plugs and water comes out of all the holes, I would speculate some intentional damage (water hose in the carb) was undertaken.  

I bought the car about 5 months ago, and lately ive been working on the frame, this weekend was the first time under the hood. The seller is a reputable man, and he told me when he bought the car 7 years ago, it was running. I also forgot to mention that there was more liquid in 2 more cylinders, only this time it was much less as well as colorless and had a faint smell of gas. where should I go from here? take off the heads and inspect for any cracks/leaks?  

I also forgot to mention that after I pulled all the spark plugs, I could not manually turn the engine.

I really appreciate all the help guys!  

with water in the cylinders....

the piston rings which are cast iron with a chrome plated face are RUSTED to the cylinder wall.

the cylinder bores are rusted...  there is less clearance than the piston needs to move...

how did the water get in there... somebody washed the car...  water landed on the air cleaner top dripped right down the screw in the middle...

a VERY long time ago... somebody hooked up vacuum hoses without knowing where they went... hooked the windshield wiper nozzle hoses to the Tee fitting on the back of the intake...  

filled the engine with water...

either way... you have a serious but thanks to interchangability you don't have that big a problem..

you can get a 302 from any car up through 79 to drop straight in..  there are some 255 scattered in some models.. so be sure to take a casting number list to compare the block casting numbers...   not the label on the air cleaner...

starting around 1980.. ford went to a light weight crank with different balance requirements for the damper on the front and the flywheel/flexplate on the back..   but because of the popularity of these much later motors.. swap parts are easily purchased...

you can use the EFI 5.0 motors   you can use the HO 5.0 motors from the mid 80s through the late 90s.. even the explorers used a 5.0 up through 97 or 98.. i had one in my 83 Tbird..


blocks that have rusted cylinder can be rebored.. so oversize pistons can be installed..  please invest in a large can of wd40... soak all the parts you take off..

if they are severally rusted.. sleeves can be installed..

cylinder heads are also repairable..

you will want to run your wet or dry  shop vacuum on the exhaust pipe to pull any moisture from the exhaust..  you might want to do it using the blow function just in case there are any fuel vapors in the exhaust system...  no use exploding the shop vacuum .  and it will happen..  

Would pull the heads, and see just how much damage is done, cheap way if the bores are damaged, is pick up any good 302, even an efi motor and transfer the intake over, and assessories and you good to go, just keep the harmonic balancer, and flywheel off the 302 and it will bolt right in.. unless you have a standard tranni then the boss on the left side of the block is missing, and would have to make a bracket to mount the Z bar for the clutch. I built up the casting on my 302 with ni rod in the stick welder, and drilled and tapped the hole for the z bar to fit