damn i had this engine finally together and when I cranked the engine to prime it, i let off and did a double check around when i noticed a slow drip of coolant from between the fuking head and block, i am so discouraged right now I don't know what to do. i posted a pic and the blue circle is where i found the coolant dripping from. and the lines point to the two holes i belive it is coming from. which hole is it more likely coming from and if so, any fix i can do to try to seal it before i rip that damn head off again?

 

You sealed the head bolts, right?

 

sounds like a dumb question to ask but i forgot to mention, yes i did use official thread sealer, that's why im really bummed, i took every step with upmost precaution and i still get this **** layed on me

 

think i could pull the one bolt their and reseal it and retorque it? or should i pull the whole damn head.

 

Even if the threads weren't sealed it shouldn't really be coming through the gasket though, especially when there's no pressure. Might be a good idea to pull the head off and see what's going on?

 

i can double check in the morning but im really sure its from the gasket. i dont want to believe myself though. what would u suggest?

 

I'd pull the head. Did you have the heads and block checked?

 

yes heads were checked, they only have about 2k miles on them anyways from when they were brand new. and the block was decked, and then assembled for a dyno, then dissasembled then i recieved it.

 

Upon closer inspection, I see that coolant is actually coming from the spark plug hole. i removed the spark plug and thier was a lil water on the end of it. what could cause this, please dont say the head gasket is leaking into the cylinder

i know i had some water down in the exhaust pipes when i bolted it up, any chance this could have made its way into the chambers? i pulled my valve cover off and it is clean of water, and i know that particular cylinder is at tdc. so im at a loss.

 

Maybe pressure test the cooling system to see where it leaks from then, before tearing it apart.

 

Yeah trav, pressure test it. You'll be able to see exactly where it's coming from. Let us know what you find.

Also, they dynoed your engine? What did they get?

 

Dumb question, but I'll ask anyways. Did you re-use the head gaskets?

 

nope its a new gasket.

urban- the person that had the engine before him dyno'd it I don't remember what it made. with the setup he has now he should be in the 500hp range

 

correct, everything on this engine is brand new. i did not cheap out everywhere. i wanted it to be perfect the first time around. i removed the rocker arms for the #2 cylinder but it still leaks so i doubt its an intake manifold leak.

when i bought the engine they used unknown heads/cam and i know they did use a carb intake though. but they produced 600hp from it.

 

Unless you've got the heads and cam they used then what they got out of it is pretty well meaningless.

 

i know i just posted it since urbanhunter44 asked. but anyways back on topic.

even after working all day and coming home. their is still a drip coming. leads me to believe one of the coolant passages over the cylinder instead since coolant should be dripping down into the cylinder then filling up and draining out the spark plug hole. makes sense right?

im soo annoyed i just want to fire it up now anyways lol.

 

Coolant passage over the cylinder? If it's not leaking from a gasket then you've got a crack somewhere.

 

The same thing happened to me in exactly the same spot. I called my machinist and asked what I could do; it was then that I discovered the block had not been decked and the heads were probably not sealing correctly. I assembled the motor myself and used new Carquest (i.e. Dana) head bolts and a Fel-Pro head gasket.

I removed the head and was expecting to disassemble the whole engine and send it back to the machine shop... until I noticed that the head bolts were bent. These were brand new bolts.

To be on the safe side I pulled the other head and sure enough, most of those were bent as well. Not wanting to remove the engine, I figured it's worth a shot to replace the head gaskets and try a different set of bolts, just for kicks. The second time around I used a regular GM gasket (which is even thinner than the Fel-Pro) and ARP head bolts. I haven't had any leakage issues to date (about 1000 miles) and am fairly sure that the bolts were the culprit; they probably weren't sealing as well as they should have been. The coolant mark on the old gasket was coming from the water jacket, not a bolt hole.

Does that mean I'd try tightening what you've got? Probably not, but then again, I haven't assembled many engines in my day so I'm not completely sure if it would hurt anything. I guess it would depend on how much the the material is twisting versus the bolt clamping. The ARP pieces torqued up so much better anyway; you could actually feel them tightening more solidly through the wrench. What kind of bolts are you using?

 

I am using fel pro 1010 gaskets and i am using arp bolts.

after my last engine blew the heads were decked and fixed to brand new condition. and the engine i recieved it zero decked. any more and the pistons will be sticking up over the bore.

and what i ment by over the cylinder, i was refering to my attachement. im thinking one of the coolant passages on the intake manifold side of the cylinder is leaking.

 

Between the head and the intake? That would more likely be leaking into the lifter valley.

 

plus as i mentioned i removed th erocker arms, so the valves should be shut and prevent water from leaking in. even if the valves were bent, the water shouldnt have been leaking out as bad as it was.

 

Oh, the way you worded it, it sounded like you had your combo dynoed by the machine shop... something didn't add up lol