427 Kettle

[FatBoy]

I've just come back from a terrific weekend at the Goodwood Revival in the Kirkham.
However, on Sunday morning when I started the car to drive in, it started steaming from the passenger side side pipe. I had noticed the day before that when I turned it off, there was a whisp of steam from the same pipe. The driver's side was fine.
I let it tick over for a while to warm up to see if it would stop. It didn't really get any better, but it also didn't get any worse.
A gent walked over to see what the problem was and after mulling it over between us and coming to the conclusion that it was probably a small leak at the cylinder head gasket, offered some K-Seal to try to seal it. I poured it into the header tank and after a couple more minutes of running, the steam stopped.
I drove to the circuit and then home, about 200 miles, at the end of the day and it still seem to be okay.
The question is, should I now pull the head off to see what I can find or should I leave it now that it seems to be fixed?
If I pull the heads off, what gaskets are generally considered to be the best for the heads and rocker covers?

Thanks,
Paul

[Excaliber]

A sealant is often a permanent fix, you may be done. I'd retorque the head bolts, which is a good thing to do regardless of any suspected leak and simply keep an eye on things. I use various sealants on a regular basis, it's just good insurance, wether you have a leak or not. I've heard Jaguar recommends it for their V-12's, possibly for their other engines as well.

[FWB]

for what its worth, every time i had a coolant leak like that, it was seepage from the intake coolant port to #1 runner or #5 runner.

[FatBoy]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I hadn't even considered that the leak could be at the intake joint. That makes much more sense now than a head gasket leak because there isn't any contamination of the oil or water.

I'll go and check the inlet manifold bolts.

Paul

[rustyBob]

I had the samething happen on my FE and it turned out to be the intake gasket.....
if it is the gasket....replace it or it will fill your engine with coolant.....i know...
the thought of pulling the intake to replace the gaskets is a lot of work but if
you dont do it and the leak comes back then you may be replaceing more than
intake gaskets.......