head bolt poped chunk out of block
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
head bolt poped chunk out of block Doing heads on a ls1 and I didn't clean the bolt holes well enough. I blew out a small chunk in the block. There must have been enough coolant to hydrolock it. The engine is out so I got the pieces out. Has anyone had this happen, ran it, and had it blow up? Looking for opinions. Thanks
Doing heads on a ls1 and I didn't clean the bolt holes well enough. I blew out a small chunk in the block. There must have been enough coolant to hydrolock it. The engine is out so I got the pieces out. Has anyone had this happen, ran it, and had it blow up? Looking for opinions. Thanks
Chance that it cracked into the water jacket... in that case, you have about 90lbs of scrap aluminum.
The head bolt holes in the block must be clean and dry or they can blow out with liquid in the bottom.
The head bolt holes in the block must be clean and dry or they can blow out with liquid in the bottom.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
No it didn't crack the water jacket. I will post a picture tonite.
Trending Topics
if you clean your threads thoroughly and blow the hole out with compressed air then you have nothing to worry about.
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Awesome K5 Blazer Restomod Comes With C7 Corvette Power
Verdad Gallardo
10 Camaros You Should Never Buy
10 LS Engine Myths That Refuse to Die
Verdad Gallardo
he mentioned it in the OP, he didn't clean the holes out. water and oil are incompressible, if you have either in the hole below the tip of the screw when you crank it down the hyrdraulic pressure builds up and something has to give.
if you clean your threads thoroughly and blow the hole out with compressed air then you have nothing to worry about.
if you clean your threads thoroughly and blow the hole out with compressed air then you have nothing to worry about.
I don't mean to be a dick but there's really no cutting corners when it comes to this stuff. It's unfortunate some folks find that out the hard way.
Launching!
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 274
Likes: 1
I spent 2days cleaning and re-cleaning my head bolt holes in my block. I used a impact air, a .357mm bore clearner brush, twisted paper towels and a flashlight to see the bottom of the holes before installing my ARP Head studs.
Does anyone remove the freeze plugs first before pulling the heads? If so, I presume antifreeze wouldn't get in the cylinders and bolt holes. I recently changed heads on a 5.3 and I too spent a lot of time cleaning out the bolt holes because the freeze plug on the passenger side was too hard to access.
he mentioned it in the OP, he didn't clean the holes out. water and oil are incompressible, if you have either in the hole below the tip of the screw when you crank it down the hyrdraulic pressure builds up and something has to give.
if you clean your threads thoroughly and blow the hole out with compressed air then you have nothing to worry about.
if you clean your threads thoroughly and blow the hole out with compressed air then you have nothing to worry about.
just wanted to make sure that was the only cause. and theres nothing else i need to make sure i do. i already cleaned mine and stuck a video scope in them. looks good to go 5hp shop vac works pretty well to suck anything out. would it be worth running a tap threw them? or a old bolt and not trq it to make sure theres no water in the treads i can't see?
Get a flash light and look into each hole. Look and verify and BE SURE they are dry and clean. I like using long stock Q tips.
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 301
Likes: 20
Does anybody know where I can find a thread chasing tap that's long enough to reach the threads? I got in the habit of using 'em on all head and main bolt holes on SBC/BBC builds but I have nothing that'll reach the threads on these blocks.
I just used a straw taped to a shop vac. Then notched both sides on one of my old head bolts. This was the most stressful part of the H/C for me...I spend A LOT of time cleaning them. Probably 20 minutes per hole.
Like was said, clean and clean some more. It's a pain in the hinny, but is critical. You can make a thread chaser by using an old stock head bolt. Grind flat spots on two sides of the threads and use it to chase the threads for gunk after you've gotten all the oil and coolant out of the holes.
TECH Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,445
Likes: 4
just use a old head bolt to clean the threads.I use a air ratchet with a socket to screw in and out a old head bolt hole a couple of times.clean the bolt threads each time.don't bottom out the bolt in the head bolt hole.
For future reference, when you remove the water pump, use a shop vac to suck out as much coolant as possible.
If you get the coolant level down far enough it wont go in the head bolt holes when you pull the heads.
Good luck
Brad
If you get the coolant level down far enough it wont go in the head bolt holes when you pull the heads.
Good luck
Brad