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By 46yblock - 16 Years Ago
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Yesterday I checked the cranking compression of the new 292. The numbers were good. 170 to 175 on all cylinders but one. The oddball was 165, and the same combustion chamber that has some pitting from junkyard corrosion. Cam is an Isky E-4 kind of detuned with 1.43 rockers. The only indication of detonation or preignition came during cam breakin. Engine temp got up to 210 and when I shut of the ignition there was diesel run on. Plugged up some vacuum leaks and high heat stopped. Also made sure to never turn off ignition on the heated engine with idle set at 2000. Gas has been mid grade 89 octane, 6 degrees initial. 250 miles accumulated on build. Now for the one remaining problem. Both head gaskets are seaping coolant. Nothing in oil or chambers which is very good, but there is a small amount coming out the outside edge, leaving a 50 cent size puddle on the floor overnight. Gaskets are the new design felpro. New studs in heads torqued/untorqued/retorqed 3 times on assembly. Deck and heads resurfaced during buildup. Studs and nuts oiled before assembly. Talked to a machinist friend and he was very surprised that they leeked. He said he would put in a can of Stop Leak and it should take care of it. I think the problem is due to those damn steam holes between the two center cylinders of the C2AE block. The 113 heads dont have the holes, so coolant may be dribbling down and out at that point.
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By mctim64 - 16 Years Ago
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Did you do your break-in with coolant or water? I do my break-ins with water to help seal up little leaks like that also we put a cube of "block sealer" in every engine we build to seal expansion plugs, water pumps and such. I don't think it would be the steam holes but I could be wrong, I am sometimes you know. 
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By 46yblock - 16 Years Ago
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Tim, It is good to know you are familiar with radiator/block sealer. I'm not and was reluctant to use it. Picked up some today. Breakin was and is being done with antifreeze solution. Should it be drained after the sealant is added and leaks have stopped? Mike
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By mctim64 - 16 Years Ago
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What kind of radiator sealer are you using? I don't recommend them all. What we put in the rebuilds are a little cube called "Well tight cubes" you might be able to get it from your machine shop. I wouldn't recommend something like "Bars leak" especially in a fresh clean radiator, it plugs everything including radiator. I would say just drain the coolant out and run water for a while, even without putting the sealer in and see what happens. Wouldn't hurt, as long as it's not freezing up there.
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By Ted - 16 Years Ago
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46yblock (5/28/2009)
Now for the one remaining problem. Both head gaskets are seaping coolant.You said studs and nuts were used so I'll ask the obvious question. Were the top row of studs all the same length or two different lengths? The longer studs should go on the outboard ends. Did you put the nuts on the studs without the washers first to insure that the nuts would pull the heads down sufficiently? If you are running out of threads before the final squeeze is put on the head gasket, then a coolant leak can be present while not being a problem for cylinder pressure sealing.
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By 46yblock - 16 Years Ago
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Ted, the studs are ARP, so they have the same thread top to bottom. 4 longer studs were packed separately and I'm certain they were properly placed in the ends. The torque was 73 lbs. because there seemed to be a little flexibility in the torque spec called for by ARP, with the top being 80 lbs. Today I retorqed the PS head to 80, gaining a slight amount of wrench movement. Tomorrow I will tackle the more difficult DS. If still leaking, Tim's suggestion of water is next, then some kind of sealer. The one I picked up is Prestone. This is what they say about it on their web site: "Super Radiator Sealer takes sealing performance to a higher level. Its unique combination of natural and synthetic components provides the ability to seal leaks up to 0.016” X 0.5”. What makes this possible is the size, strength, and durability afforded by fibrillated Kevlar® particles, the same materials in bullet proof vests. Super Sealer’s particles have been chosen to seal even large leaks without interfering with the flow through the radiator and heater core tubes." So since it is FIBRILLATED it has to be good  . Today I mentioned the situation to a car enthusiast friend. He said years ago he cured a badly leaking radiator with a small bottle of Cayenne pepper poured into the top of the radiator. But it isn't fibrillated and probably would produce engine backfires . Mike
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By Fordy Guy - 16 Years Ago
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I remember when I was in my teens, I had an old 52 Chevy 5 window pickup with a worn out 216 six in it. The side of the block had a small crack in it and seeped with just water, and really seeped if you tried to use anti-freeze. My dad said he could fix the leak by using 2 eegwhites. We drained the engine and purged all the anti-freeze out so it was using just water and he put the eggwhites in the cold system and I ran the engine for a couple of days and it DID stop the leak! I drained the system later and put in anti-freeze in and it didn't leak. I ran that old engine until There wern't any more shims to take out of the caps. We built a GMC 271 six to replce it later. Sorry to throw around the "C" word so much, just recalling some good old times. Bud
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By 46yblock - 16 Years Ago
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Egg whites sound better than Chilie!
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By 46yblock - 16 Years Ago
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The leaks appear to have stopped after the 80 lb torqueing. Took the truck for a 40 mile run and no puddles after two days. I hadnt wanted to use that much pressure due to a problem deck bolt hole, but it looks like it will hold. During the drive it felt like the engine was more responsive than previously. I checked 3 or 4 of the rockers when doing the lash, and they each needed .003 more lash, so maybe compression is up even a little higher. While driving, the oil pump I asked about in another thread started doing weird things. Beginning of the trip pressures were 24 hot idle and 48 hot cruise. Then after 20 miles the pressure dropped back to pre spring shim levels, then 10 miles later back up to 48 cruise. So I changed the pump out, now have 60 psi cold idle and 72 psi cold 2000 rpm. Seems like a lot of pressure for a regular output pump but I'm not complaining. Hopefully now all the major bugs are worked out.
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By 56 big window - 16 Years Ago
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John Memmert has a newly designed head gasket for y blocks that may eliminate your problem should it reoccur . Hopefully it will not
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By 46yblock - 16 Years Ago
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The gaskets in use are the new JM design. I thought they were made by Felpro but he said not a couple days ago. He said that the specs called for 80 ft. lbs., but not sure if he was referring to the gaskets or studs. At the time it seemed to be the studs. The gasket's cylinder rings apparently have not been compressing sometimes, and the maker has begun rolling the gaskets, I guess to get a partial compression. Maybe this set was prior to the rolling.
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By texasmark1 - 16 Years Ago
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had a similar leak myself;finally tried the Bar-Leak... the stuff had kind of a gold fleck look to it... put it in with just water in the rad and engine; started it up, let it get hot, no more leak... then drained it out and replaced with 50/50 water and antifreeze... still no more leak and the temp is right where it should be... so... there ya go... Mark
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By DANIEL TINDER - 16 Years Ago
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mctim64 (5/28/2009)
What we put in the rebuilds are a little cube called "Well tight cubes"
Tim,
Google search for "Well-Tight" block sealer cubes came up zilch. Do you have a package handy with manufacturer data that might help locate a source? Variations on that name & spelling seem quite common (valve seats, adhesives, etc.).
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By DANIEL TINDER - 15 Years Ago
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Tim,
Also curious about product-use details. It occurred to me that some soak time would likely be indicated, so cubes could be well dissolved before the thermostat opens (after starting up a fresh rebuild)? In case heat is required to accomplish an adequate seal, what about filling the block with boiling water, soaking until cool, and then draining/refilling before first start-up to eliminate any possibility of radiator clogging?
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By speedpro56 - 15 Years Ago
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I torque all my studs too 80 lbs and that seems to work out better than the 75 lbs and I always run a small bottle of bars stop leak to seal anything that may need it in a new engine. I've been told that new cars have bars stop leak added before they leave the factory?? to thke care of any leaks that could happen.
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By Philo - 15 Years Ago
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I've used Bars Leaks in the past and it WILL stop a BIG leak, it also decreased the efficiency of my heater and I imagine the pellet goop also settles out in the lower part of the engine water jacket.
I have a friend who worked for Ford at the Cleveland plant and he told me that FoMoCo used ALUMASEAL in every engine at the factory. I was skeptical, but he swore by it. I guess this is a case of preventive "medicine"?
It's available at most auto parts stores. Its a silver powder and comes in a small plastic tube.
Has anyone tried it?
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By Duck - 15 Years Ago
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Fellas- The "cubes" that Tim refers to are also available as a Delco part # (#slips my mind at the moment) available at any GM dealer. The factory uses them in new engines, I was told. Tell them you want the engine coolant sealing tabs, they SHOULD know what you want. The local engine shop highly recommends them and have been using them for years. I always dropped a few into the water jackets on any engine I've ever rebuilt, and they do work well.... /Duck
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By John Mummert - 15 Years Ago
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ARP is adamant that a fastener must be in tension to perform properly. When you back off on the recommended torque you lose any advantage there is in a higher quality fastener. In other words, a cheap fastener torqued correctly might do a better job than a high quality fastener that has not be stretched sufficiently. Its a matter of preload, so when the parts expand and contract with heat the fastener will always exert pressure on the parts being clamped together.
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By crenwelge - 15 Years Ago
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I've been putting in either Bars Leak or Alumaseal in every time I have things apart for 50 years. Thats how the old timers did it in the 50's and it still works for me. I even put Alumaseal in my over the road trucks. I turn the water filter off for a thousand miles or so and then when I turn it on again, I suppose it filters out the sealer, but its already done its job.
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