water leak

[bonnieclyde100]

i have a 69 chevy truck and i keep getting a leak at a couple of head bolts on my engine. the bolts on outside of head cover near the back of the heads. when i built the engine i used arp thread sealant .and after a couple hundred miles it started to leak so i pulled all the bolts and resealed all the threads with a different sealant and again after a couple hundred miles the same bolts started to leak again. i am not getting any water in the engine and i am not having overheating and i am only loosing about a quart of water every couple of days. i dont really want to put those sealants in the radiator because they make a mess inside the motor and i am afraid they clog up some of the water jackets in the block and heads but i dont know what else to try. any ideas?

[Classic Heartbeat]

Did you run a tap in the holes to clean them out befor installing the head bolts. If not you should. Head bolts tend to leak if not. WES

[bonnieclyde100]

i guess i could try that again.

[GMCJOE]

Is this on one head or both?

[bonnieclyde100]

so far this time it is only in one but last time it was in both.

[GMCJOE]

I would pull the valve covers and re-torque all the head bolts in sequence. Try cleaning the threads and blowing them out with air, might have some debris in the bottom hole causing the bolts to bottom out too soon. If this doesn't solve the issue, you may have a problem with the head gasket, warped head possibly, or uneven surface on the deck of the block. Many of factors, but if it leaked before and you tried to torquing it back down damage may have been done to the head gasket.

[GASoline71]

What is a "head cover"? Do you mean "valve cover" or "rocker arm cover"?

So you're sayin' it's the bolts along the bottom of the actual head that are located in a line under the manifolds/headers? Or are they the intake manifold bolts on the top that screw into the heads through the intake?

Gary

[MacGyver72]

Ditto. Same question. What's a head cover bolt?

[GMCJOE]

Good question, cause I am assuming he was talking about the ones located at the skirt of the head.

[bonnieclyde100]

one bolt on each side the bolts outside the valve cover . the skirt bolts.

[GMCJOE]

Take a picture and show us.

[bonnieclyde100]

well it turns that my leak is exactly what i hoped it would not be . a crack in the block. now to figure out what to do about it. i cant buy a new one and this one was rebuilt about a year ago so i need to try to save it. any ideas i have a few but would like to here yours.

[GMCJOE]

Some people use the technique called Pinning the Crack. But if it is at the head bolt, you are better off finding another block.

[terry b]

Drill small hole at the end of the crack . Weld the crack shut and grind it smooth. Put it back together and run block sealer thru the block only. Remove the heater core from the loop. Its a last chance try. If it does not work you are not out anything.

[bonnieclyde100]

thanks for advise

[GMCJOE]

Best thing to do is pull the engine, break it down, and take it to your local machine shop and ask there opinion if it is repairable. That's your best bet.

[MacGyver72]

Are you trying to save the integrity of the truck keeping the original motor? These trucks did not link the block stamp to the vin so as long as you have the same size block, you still have essentially the stock truck. These motors are too prevelant and cheap in junk yards to put all the effort into saving a cracked block in my opinion. Not trying to nay say anyone's thoughts here but if i had a cracked block, I'd just get whole motor from a junk yard and rebuild it.

[bonnieclyde100]

well 1 i have spent quite alot on this motor and 2 i dont know about where you are from but around here a 350 four bolt main engine is not that easy to come by i have already looked for one. i am first going to try a special rod from muggy weld that is supposed to be good for just this kind of thing. if it doesnt work im only out about 50.00 dollars worth of welding rod then i will look again but it will take a while because my budget is very small. it took me eight years to get my truck to where it is and im not done yet

[MacGyver72]

Yeah, I understand four bolts being hard to find in that year. They're out there of course but it sure seems to take a long time to find one. We do have a ton of them up here in Indiana and some are even cheap like a couple hundred or so. If the fix doesn't work and you don't find one in AL, come visit me and we'll search over a weekend and some beverages. ha ha ha

Seriously though, if you find you have a need, let me know and I'll try to find something.

[bonnieclyde100]

thanks