I knew it was too good to be true, but I pulled my intake off and there is a FINE line about an inch long right next to number 5's lifters. I had lost about a 1/2 gallon of coolant last summer and decided to see what was up and this is what I get. Block was mag'ed 2 years ago and was perfect. but the coolant started to leak this year. I just spent 2 grand on machine work 2 years ago for this motor. Is it weldable? Or anybody have any other ideas. Its more of a horizonal crack. near the valley base.

 

You're not the first victim of this. The placement is a little odd, though. The one's I've looked and and heard about were usually near #7 or #8, and continued up the rear wall. Perhaps you just caught yours early.

How high above the lifters is the crack? Photo?

Unless you are really attached to this case, I'd think that you're risking a bit by welding, stress-relieving, and machining as necessary. A crack in a cylinder wall can be solved with a liner, but an outer water jacket is a bit of a different matter. If it were a 4-1/8" case it might be worth fooling with, but a 4" bore is just to common to risk, IMO. Then again, I'm not looking at the block, and can only guess the extent of it.

The problem is that a crack above the #5 lifter bores is right in the area that transfers the pressure of the head to the "null" area between the #3 and #4 main bearing webs. It may be subject to more flexing, and your crack could be a result of that.

 

I know Maybe I'll JB Weld it LOL

 

By the time you relieve (drill) the ends of the crack (once you find the actual ends), grind a 'V' groove and nickel weld, shot pein the weld or heat treat the block to anneal it, then check the lifter bores for perpendicularity and correct if necessary, and correct and cylinder/deck squareness, you'd have more time and effort than you might be starting with a new casting, let alone a good, seasoned, rebuildable casting.

 

Crack start from the bottom and comes up and just over the top of number 5 intake lifter. Its on an angle. I dont have a dig camara. I'll try to find a pic of something and post it. + Its so fine you wouldnt be able to see it in a pic anyway. I have to put my eyeball to it to see it.

 

Heres my motor and I drew a yellow line where the crack is.

 

Do you have any fluorescent test dye, and a UV lamp? Or, can you borrow one? (Lots of HVAC/refrigeration service places have them.) Are you positive it's a crack, or is it perhaps a casting flaw? If you are losing coolant into the oil, there might be a nice, clean spot there.

 

In the little "pool" area there it was the typical dark milky color oil. Rest of oil was fine. When I pulled intake off. The fine line was white and oil and water. After I wiped it alll clean, the line is barely visable. But I've had this motor for a good 5 years and it just started. I do not have access to that stuff. I was thinking of just pulling it out and taking it to the machine shop that did my work and see what he could do. Like I said the block was Mag'ed 2 years ago and it was fine for the first year, but something must have happened over last winter.

 

first thing i'd do is make sure it's a crack, PT it, it'll cost you 50 dollars or so for 3 cans to do it, or find someone to do it for you. if it is in fact a crack i'd prep the area ,remove the rough casting finish, grind a slight groove in it, and weld it with steel mig, no pre heat and no post heat. i wouldn't use a cheap 110v, or 220v mig welder. get or find someone with a quality machine to do it.

 

Unlerss you froze up the motor on some dark and stormy night or overheated it badly here's what I can tell you: if it weren't for bad luck, you'd have none at all.

I've never had a problem with any of my zillions of SBCs in that area. To the point I want to tell you you're seeing things.......

But, end of the day, that's a damned crack, by the way you explain it. End of story. You hit the bad luck lottery. Sorry.

I seriously doubt if there's anything you did to CAUSE this problem and you'll probably never encounter it again but end of the day..... it's time for a fresh block.

I don't fix cracked blocks. I figure, if they crack in one place they might crack in another a few months later.

It's incidents like this that make people go out and buy their first aftermarket block. Hasn't happened to me yet, so I have never bought an aftermarket block. 6 months from now I could be singing a different tune.

 

I know I know. I't kills me, because I just spent 2 grand on this shortblock a tad less then 2 years ago. I'm going to remvoe it all, test for the crack and then call up somebody see what they can do.

 

google columbus cold weld, see if they're still in buisness if you're going to farm the work out.

 

I went up to Victory today and they said its fixable (From what I described) They use pins, a tap and something esle to fix it. Mentioned something about putting pins across the entire crack. The other guy up there said hes repaired 7-8 inch cracks with this method and it worked well. He said they will then pressure test the block to ?? PSI to make sure its all good. So next week I gotta run my shortblock up to them. While its up there I should tell them make sure everything else is ok too. If they think its too bad, I'm going to be buying a new block. I have the money, but I am sick of pouring it into my car lol.

 

Well I got the motor back. They put in 22 pins. It ran me 180 bucks. They pressure tested it to 50 PSI and it was rock solid. We'll see what happens. I'll post some more pics of the redo when I pick it up Friday

 

Thats pretty wild, never heard of that one beofre. The problem, or the fix. Hope it works out and gives you a long service life.

 

There are staples available to repair castings. I've used them before on machinery frames. They are best used to hold the casting together while welding. They worked out well on the frame of a 450T forge.

 

We were taught how to do that in school. Overlap the pins and thread them into each other. Works well on cylinder heads too.