Cracked Head repair gone wrong

So, I removed the head on my 4.0 but I did not drain the coolant first. as I took out the last two head bolts, coolant started coming out of the gasket area. Upon removing the head I found all 6 cylinders full of coolant sitting on top of the pistons... I soaked it all up with paper towels... Is this going to be ok? What about the little side holes around the cylinders, they are full of coolant too, should I try to remove it or is that normal? Thanks for any suggestions. :cheers:

A shop vac can also be used to suck up coolant.

you want zero cortisone in the piston bores, so suck it all out then liberally apply wd40 a nd then wipe that out, repeat.

the side holes you mention are either coolant passages, which are ok to be wet, or maybe the oil passages, oil passages should be dried, and you should change the oil anyway when new head is installed.

finish the job soon, dont let it sit long, else risk of the piston bores rusting.

good luck

Happens all the time doing headgaskets on anything, particularly on v motors. Clean it up, no big deal.

When you go to reinstall (with new head bolts), make sure to coat the #2 (IIRC) bolt with thread sealer. That bolts extends down into the water jacket and if not sealed, will leak coolant.

Thanks everyone!! thats a relief