Finally got my 383 running today.

The day didn't end as planned.

It ran great until I realized the engine was low on coolant. So I decided to add some. After a minute of filling with the engine idling, the engine started running rough and stalled. After this happened twice, I checked the oil to find milkshake. Not something I expected with my Vortec 383 considering I dont cut corners and use nothing but the best parts. This engine is all new.

I popped off the intake to find evidence of water in all 8 runners. These heads are ported so it's easy to tell. From what I can see the engine was pulling water into the runners instead of leaking into the lifter valley during idle. This was a MAJOR leak, I couldn't even fill the reservoir before the engine stalled.

From what I can see, the bolt holes in the SDPC base are alot larger than the ARP intake bolts I'm using (Vortec bolts). The intake is also thinner on the SDPC intake compared to the factory one. The only thing I can think is that because of this the intake wouldn't sit square on the heads before being torqued.

Has anyone else with the sdpc intake encountered this problem?

Right now I'm resealing the base intake and I'm going to pressure test it tomorrow morning before I reassemble. I'm using the new style Felpro MS98000T Vortec intake gasket. Heads were both milled .010", deck is square, all parts fluxed with required machining before assembly.

 

Did you use ARP thread sealant with the intake bolts?

 

Problem was a bad gasket. Installed new gaskets with a light dab of RTV and have been sealed up great ever since.