Strange coolant leak/new head gaskets
09-21-2009, 09:16 PM
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Strange coolant leak/new head gaskets Excuse me for the long sory, but you will need all the info to understand the situation.
I recently bought a used LS1 motor from a guy who flipped his camaro a few times. Turns out the car dropped a valve when this occured. The damage was very minor, all I needed was a new valve as the piston had a very faint eyebrow.
Well when I picked to motor up I decided I did not want to run the MS4 that was in the car, I contacted Ed Curtis and we decided on the Street Sweeper HT. After replacing the cam/timing chain/head gaskets/head bolts and reseating the valve seals, I finally got the motor in the car.
Now last night I fired the car up for the first time with no water in the system... this was just to see if the motor had oil pressure. The motor fired, but the factory gauge did not work. I fired the car a few more times, maybe 15 mins of cool time between starts while I was trying to get the oil pressure switch to read.
Today I finally got my manual gauge hooked up and put some water in the system... fired the car and had 60psi. Needless to say I was happy.
When I went to install the bell housing I noticed there was a small coolant leak from the very corner of the head, at cylinder 8. Water would drip out near the rivet in the head gasket. The gaskets and bolts were new and I know i torqued the heads down properly. The car never ran for more than 15 seconds and a time w/ out coolant in it the night before.
I had a machine shop check the heads and they claimed they were okay. What would your next move be? Tomorrow I can buy another set of heads for $160 and throw them on there... but I would need to purchase a new set of head bolts and gaskets. I really don't want to pull the motor again either. Has anyone had anything similar to this happen to them?
Would some stop leak be worth a shot?
Here is a video of the leak w/out the car running.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ahIdaZWNWs
I have given the head bolts near number 8 another twist in hops of fixing this, I have also double checked the rear block off plugs and they dont leak. There is no oil in the water, but the car hasnt been run very long anyhow.
I recently bought a used LS1 motor from a guy who flipped his camaro a few times. Turns out the car dropped a valve when this occured. The damage was very minor, all I needed was a new valve as the piston had a very faint eyebrow.
Well when I picked to motor up I decided I did not want to run the MS4 that was in the car, I contacted Ed Curtis and we decided on the Street Sweeper HT. After replacing the cam/timing chain/head gaskets/head bolts and reseating the valve seals, I finally got the motor in the car.
Now last night I fired the car up for the first time with no water in the system... this was just to see if the motor had oil pressure. The motor fired, but the factory gauge did not work. I fired the car a few more times, maybe 15 mins of cool time between starts while I was trying to get the oil pressure switch to read.
Today I finally got my manual gauge hooked up and put some water in the system... fired the car and had 60psi. Needless to say I was happy.
When I went to install the bell housing I noticed there was a small coolant leak from the very corner of the head, at cylinder 8. Water would drip out near the rivet in the head gasket. The gaskets and bolts were new and I know i torqued the heads down properly. The car never ran for more than 15 seconds and a time w/ out coolant in it the night before.
I had a machine shop check the heads and they claimed they were okay. What would your next move be? Tomorrow I can buy another set of heads for $160 and throw them on there... but I would need to purchase a new set of head bolts and gaskets. I really don't want to pull the motor again either. Has anyone had anything similar to this happen to them?
Would some stop leak be worth a shot?
Here is a video of the leak w/out the car running.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ahIdaZWNWs
I have given the head bolts near number 8 another twist in hops of fixing this, I have also double checked the rear block off plugs and they dont leak. There is no oil in the water, but the car hasnt been run very long anyhow.
09-21-2009, 09:41 PM
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What year model block I think you have to use a different head gasket on the 97-98 block if my memory serves me correctly. Also gasket on incorrectly turned wrong?
Last edited by MCBRIZ28; 09-21-2009 at 09:46 PM.
09-21-2009, 09:52 PM
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I have seen a lot of 99 model ls1's still had 98 style blocks. I really think the gasket is on wrong after looking at just get it off as soon as possible might crack corner of head with that pressure on that rivet.
