Engine builders here..LS1 block question
Engine builders here..LS1 block question I have friend here at work and he's working on a 2002 Berger Camaro that the customer has installed different heads. Anyway the oil pan is leaking and when he got it off there's chunks of metal in the pan. You can see where the bottom of the head bolt holes are blown out maybe from debris or liquid in the holes as the head bolts were torqued. We are wondering if this block is junk or can something be done?
Last edited by scooter k; May 23, 2014 at 12:35 PM.
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I'm not sure on this, I've got a block that the PO punched out two bolt boss bottoms on (both into the crankcase) and I just don't see the issue. Unless of course, the block is cracked. I think one could just put some sealer on those affected bolts and go with it. Doesn't affect the ability to carry torque, just sealing ability.
Still waiting on the experts to dispute this. Looks to me the only issue is oil wicking up the threads or coolant leaking down them. That said, my block is being used only for mock-ups as I have a perfectly good L92 block for my build...
This is what burns my a$$, statements without valid reasons. Or any reasons at all for that matter. Lot's of guys on here weld up and save blocks that have the entire starter boss blown off. I guess you'd chuck a block if a bolt hole got stripped...
If there was a crack, it should be fairly localized. Say, to the bottom 10% of the bolt hole and the area radially surrounding the "punch out". Which should narrow down the area to check. You think a borescope would get into the bottom of a bolt hole?
It's possible, but it would still be difficult to perform the test correctly as well as having good enough visibility to detect the crack. It would be very easy to miss it, even with a decent inspector and an expensive borescope.
Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 90
Likes: 39
You can check it out for cracks but about every third LSx aluminum block I see looks like that with a few of these blown out bolt hole bottoms and they seem to run fine. It's certainly not good for the block but hasn't seemed to cause any issues so far with as many as I've seen like that. When I'm final washing blocks and blowing out the head bolt holes when I'm through I always find these deals where the bolts hydro-locked and blew the hole out at the bottom. It's surprisingly common on engines that people worked on or changed heads on.
