Sealing a hole into the water jacket

[bluex]

I was drilling the two additional holes needed in my passenger side head for a serpentine accessory bracket (96+ style). The lower hole wound up in the water jacket.

Should I seal this with a pipe plug now an rely on the two upper bolts to hold the bracket or keep on going to thread size an use thread sealant on the mounting bolt on install. I stopped on this hole at the 1/8 size I was using for the pilot.

I really dont want to deal with this seeping coolant constantly....
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[jjzepplin]

I just screwed a stud in with RTV on it and no problems. I made sure the stud had just enough threads to bottom out at the back of the hole. This way the un-threaded part seals pretty good up against the head. Never dripped a drop. Next time I drilled with a stop but still hit it. I guess all heads are cast different. That one doesn't leak either.

[bluex]

Ya I had a stop on my drill bit to but I was still a long ways from it. I'm thinking I'll do it to 5/16 instead of 3/8 an see what happens from there...

[jjzepplin]

Mine are both 3/8". Only really supposed to hold about 13 lbs of pressure. No big wup. Water pump bolts go thru jackets.

[kwmech]

Same here---- I just used sealer on a stud

[DieselSJ]

I had that same mishap drilling the same hole. I used some of the teflon thread sealant and it never leaked a drop. Remember that there are a lot of engines that have bolts that thread into water ports. It really is nothing to worry about.

[bluex]

Thanks everyone, it just freaked me out a little I guess. I may not drive my truck everyday but when I do drive it, it will usually be at least a 50 mile round trip. Its been dead nuts reliable for the last two years so any change I make I'm worried I will cause a bigger issue that leaves me stranded somewhere. My local club does crusies all the time and I dont want to be "that guy" that breaks down...