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97 5.7V fuel injection if it matters, history is grandparents bought it a while ago blew gasket went to shop to be rebuilt guy there was idiot got trash all in the motor so he put it to side for 16 17 years then I turned old enough to get ahold of it, we rebuilt it, runs great had its kinks in it, but we had a problem where it kept shutting off(some of the other posts I had) found it out, it’s fixed now she’s running fantastic, but like stated number 4 is out, forsure not firing and the spark plug is clean as it can be, papa told me when he was putting intake on he had to give it a lil drill here and drill there to get it to go on, with the radiator drinking so much we got to wondering if the intake isn’t leaking coolant into it. Sorry didn’t get the message someone responded by the way.
Yes it absolutely matters for diagnosing your issue.
Get a cooling system pressure tester from the loaner-tools program at a local parts store. Pressurize the cooling system overnight, remove all the spark plugs. Look for coolant leaks--puddles on the ground, coolant run-off of engine components. Pull engine oil drain plug, look for coolant running out before the oil comes out. (no need to drain oil completely unless it needs to be changed anyway--or there was coolant in it. Reinstall drain plug, add oil (and filter) as needed. Then, pull the power wire off of the ignition coil, to disable the ignition system. Crank engine. See if coolant shoots out of any cylinders, especially #4.
...and verify cranking compression on #4 at least, but all of them in general. Have the throttle open somewhat when performing compression test.
