Blocks refuse to update

Hi all,

I've been having trouble getting block updates to work properly in two separate places.

Firstly, I have a class that uses tile entity data to determine what sprites should go where:

        @Override
@SideOnly(Side.CLIENT)
        public int getBlockTexture(IBlockAccess access, int x, int y, int z, int side)
{
	if (!(access.getBlockTileEntity(x, y, z) instanceof TileEntityLavaPlate))
	{
		return 0;
	}
	TileEntityLavaPlate te = (TileEntityLavaPlate)access.getBlockTileEntity(x, y, z);

	return (te.getPositionInMacro() != -2) ? 117 : 102;			
        }

Else where in the class, I have the following bit of code inside an onBlockAdded method:

tileEntity = (TileEntity3x1x3Try2)world.getBlockTileEntity(x, y, z);
tileEntity.setPositionInMacro(0);
world.markBlockForUpdate(x, y, z);
System.out.println("Made Macro Block");

The markBlockForUpdate's javadoc states that the method will re-send tile entity data from server to client, but I can never get the block's texture to change, even when I do get console output when the block is added.

Possibly relatedly, I've been working on an item that, when right-clicked, places water source blocks in the world.  The only problem is, while I can place a water source block, the placed block is 'still,' and won't spread.  How can I make the block update itself?

world.setBlockAndMetadataWithNotify(x, y, z, Block.waterStill.blockID, 0);
				world.scheduleBlockUpdate(x, y, z, Block.waterStill.blockID, 2);