96 2.2 just replaced the hg and put her back together. ran fine fine but really noisy so I bled the hla's on the passenger side. Buttoned it up and now it's running bad and the cel is flashing. water is coming out of the tailpipe not coolant. Pleas help. thanks in advance , Joe

CoOld it be blowing old water that had collected in the exhaust previously, prior to HG replacement?

Depending on the amount it may be normal to have liquid water. H2O is a byproduct of combustion, and a very cold exhaust may be enough to cause it to condensate.

Water is a byproduct of normal combustion. It can be a little unnerving seeing water coming out of the tail pipe after HG replacement. Believe me I know, I just had my own adventure with head gaskets.

 

HLA noise is nothing to worry about. They will eventually pump up and go quiet.

 

CEL on is a good sign, it at least gives you something to go by. You'll want to try and get that scanned to see what the code is. If the light is blinking it is probably due to a misfire.

 

In the meantime check wiring connectors, spark plug wires, air hoses (intake, PCV, IAC hoses).

Re-check cam timing. Make sure all three sprockets are still aligned properly. Just went through this. Had a cam jump time after a few minutes of running and it took me three days to figure out because I was so sure the timing was correct when I put the engine in the car. It caused it to misfire, but only when warm and under load. The rest of the time it seemed to run perfectly fine.

Pull the plugs and check their condition, they can give clues about what is going on.

Plugs on the passenger side smell like fuel so they are probably not firing. I accidentally left off the the spark plug wires after I bled the hla's and started it. Do you think I fried the coil. I have the timing cover off so I will check the timing. Thanks for all the help so far joe

so it appears the plugs are firing. It only started running bad after the hla's got bled. Should I just pull the rocker arm again and start over?

p0303 is my only code.

I messed around with plugs and wires and now it's running great with just a little bit of tick on the driver side. driver side hla bleed and I'll be good to go. thanks everyone for your help. Joe

It's not worth bothering to bleed HLAs they will bleed themselves.

Sounds like you got your misfire straightened out. Time to enjoy a good drive!

I would add some Marvel Mystery Oil to both the oil and gas tank to clean up the engine and fuel systems. It might even get rid of that tick you are hearing.