Leaking head, uhhh

[Igofastr]

So, since I first installed my motor, about 2K miles ago, I've had a slow leak at a screw-in core plug. Lately, the leak seamed to pickup a bit, so I got under the car to take a look.

Still the little drip from the freaze plug, but also a fair amout of weaping from the head gasket. The motor has not overheated, of that I'm sure. There is no evidence of water in the oil, nor is there any steam from the exhaust. The motor seems to run fine, other than requiring coolant every once in a while.

Now what? I think I'd heard mention in the past of re-tightening the head bolts after an initial period? Could that be all it is, or am I screwed just days after sending my money in for the WSCB?

Do I need to slip my mechanic extra bills to have any hope of making the BASH?

[trularin]

What happens if you just tighten the freeze plug and do the head on the side that is weeping??

[Igofastr]

Trularin,

I haven't tried tightening the freeze plug lately. Actually, I had it tightened at a shop shortly after I installed the motor. That seemed to have cured things for a short while. There was no leaking at the head at that time.

BTW, the heads are aluminum Edelbrocks.

[trularin]

Maybe a small test would be in order.

Get a torque wrench and set it about five pounds short of the installed torque. Check the bolts in the assigned pattern. Also, check to make sure all of the hardened washers are in place under the nuts holding the head down.

For that matter, you may want to pull out a stud and make sure the threads are at least half covered with thread sealer. It isn't for the heads, it is for the block.

Maybe see if you can turn the freeze plug in a hair. For that matter, drain the block and pull out the plug, put some ARP thread sealer on the threads and put it back in the block. While it is out, check to make sure there isn't any cracks around the freeze plug hole.

Hope this helps. Coolant leaks can be annoying.

[ERA 626]

Belive it or not... Try silver seal IT WORKS!!! and cheap

[Excaliber]

I have to concur, Silver Seal does work, and it leaves almost trace of left over residue. Like ANY 'sealing agent' how well it works depends on an almost endless list of variables, which is to say, sometimes it works well and sometimes it doesn't. Certainly worth a try.

'Bars Leaks' is another great product, but I don't care for the color and residue it leaves hanging around in the cooling system, looks like 'rust' and 'milky water'. But it DOES work.

I don't think I would try to tighten the freeze plugs (core plugs or whatever you want to call them), I WOULD try some sealing agents first!

By the way, you should have an 'over flow' catch can of some kind. A hot motor when shut down builds up pressure and 'pushes' water out the overflow onto the ground (if you don't 'catch' it). The overflow container should have some water in it all ready, enough to cover the end of the hose. Hot water flows in, motor cools down, sucks the water back into the engine. Without a catch can you generally have to add water on occasion. I'm presently using an empty plastic Gatorade bottle, but my friend suggested a "Jim Beam" bottle might look better.

[Rick Parker]

I agree with Ex to avoid removing the threaded core plug. They exert a certain amount of stress on the cylinder walls and if they were originally "Torqued to spec" when the engine was built, it may be difficult to duplicate at this time, especially considering the difficulty in accessing it on an installed engine(?). GM dealers have in their parts depts some brown pellets about 1" in diameter and 3/4" thick that are made of some sort of sealer for the cooling system. It is common practice while replacing intake manifolds or heads to toss a couple of these pellets in the cooling system to eliminate any minor leaks that could develop after the job is completed. I have used them in the past. They are easy to administer, nothing to spill and work well. I too would recommend retorqing each of the heads.

[Igofastr]

So, time for an update.

I did torq check the head bolts, and found them to be fine. At that point, I drove the car over to Tom at FE Specialties to pull the head and take a look. He called me with the results, and I went by after work to see for myself.

What did Tom find? Well, a set of felpro blue head gaskets were used, a good thing, but once those were pulled out of the way, it was clear for all to see that the block had not been properly decked. There were fine grooves across the surface indicating two things...the mill/hone (whatever they use) was not centered and was moving too fast (or at least a nice smooth fininsh job was not done). End result was a surface too rough for the gasket to seal.

The best way to fix this is to disassemble the block and re-deck the surface...essentially a total rebuild. Not a pleasant surprise on a motor with only 2K miles on it. There were other problems too, but not related to the leak. As a total rebuild would definitely not set well with the wife, I opted to have Tom give it a try with some composite gaskets which may fix the leak, but cost me some compression.

Not a happy day.

If anyone wants to know the name of the shop that built the motor, they are based in Texas, and I'd be happy to give it to you via PM. No, I didn't buy it directly from them, but from one of their customers. The shop and seller seemed to be friends, and the shop owner confirmed that he'd built to motor.

I doubt that I have any recourse, and will have to chalk it up to experience.

[ERA 626]

Wow, this story seems to be getting very common... All of these "builders" out there building a time bomb ready to expolde... I am sorry to hear that. I would hope that the "builder" that assembled this motor would at least send you the parts to re-build the motor. That would help stop the bleeding.

[CHANMADD]

You could try sanding the top of the block with a fine waterpapermounted on a "straight and flatblock",just a little sanding and then use COPPER SPRAY-A-GASKET, made by Permatex Item No80697,spray on both sides of the new gasket before installing.Just my 2c

[maurice19]

Bad luck, Ron.

Maurice

Give a call if I can be of any help

[Igofastr]

Originally Posted by maurice19

Bad luck, Ron.

Maurice

Give a call if I can be of any help

Thanks Maurice.

I'll call you just before I tell my wife how much its gonna cost...if you hear any choking sounds, call EMS, and if I don't make it, tell my children I love them,