I am working on a malibu I picked up for $500 because 'the engine had seized'. I thought I would give it a go. The car starts if you crank it for about 60 seconds, and quickly overheats, with water shooting out of the overflow. I finally got around to doing a compression test, and water shot out of the cylinder holes on the front of the car, and went up inside my compression tester that was on cyl 1 by the firewall. Both banks have water. Is it worth a tear down and closer inspection? Or should I just pass it along and make it someone elses problem? I'm not shy when it comes to engine work - but a cracked block is more than I want to deal with at the moment.

 

get a junkyard engine, they are cheap and warrantied. Not worth tearing it down to find its been hydrolocked.