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iTrader: (7)

Completed the engine assembly, filled with fluids, use a vacuum device to suck in the coolant, noticed a couple of drops coming out of gasket to head on driver side. After running the car for 30 minutes to heat cycle the valvesprings, the leak apparently stopped. I hosed everything down, and put a fan on it overnite, and will check again tomorrow to see if it is still leaking. Does this sometimes happen?

382 stroker, AFR 225 heads, Cometic gaskets. All prepped well, very clean, used Hylomar on ARP bolts/washers, etc. Nothing used on gaskets.

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mr2guru

iTrader: (16)

Cometics are very finicky, this I know.

Personally I've had nothing but issues with cometics, from subarus, to fords, to hondas. I haven't used them for GM and I probably won't. I am using SCE ICS gaskets this time around.

Anyway, some on here use the coolant pills and had success with cometics when they leak.

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iTrader: (7)

what is a coolant pill??

ArcticZ28

iTrader: (14)

Yea I've heard of that a couple times. A lot of people (including myself) used copper spray sealant on them before I put em on. Granted it's a bit of a bitch getting that stuff off if you pull the heads frequently, but the benefits of a well sealed head far outweigh the longer time needed to clean the head/block surface from the copper spray.

mr2guru

iTrader: (16)

The GM coolant leak sealer horse pills.

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iTrader: (7)

will the pills cause any plugging of the coolant passages in the intake area???

Thanks for the advice..

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1QuickT-A

iTrader: (12)

There was a huge discussion on this a few weeks ago.. I'm sure you saw it. The guy had a 400+ci sleeved block that Darton machine and sleeved for him. He put it together and it was leaking slightly from the head gasket and he also used the Cometics. He ran the motor anyways and after a heat cycle it quit leaking. So he changed the oil and broke it in for a few hundred miles then put it on the dyno at Thunder Racing I believe. And the motor locked up on the dyno.. I think he was stuck with a shitty motor and it wasn't even his fault. The big discussion was about the sleeves and deck height of the sleeves. Steve @ RED said the sleeves were suppose to be flush with the deck of the block, but Darton East that did the work on the engine said that it would be fine with 5 thousanths of clearance over the deck. Obviously they were wrong..

WS6snake-eater

More info???? I wonder if this will fix my headgasket leak on my wifes 2000 Malibu, V6.

ArcticZ28

iTrader: (14)

Please tell me you didn't do a head upgrade on your wife's malibu

WS6snake-eater

Not yet...But, since I am pulling them off for the gasket swap, I don't see any harm in a little port matching..

cablebandit

iTrader: (37)

i didnt have any leaking with my cometics even after their 4th use on a 346.....after the first use i used copper spray on them.

CAT3

iTrader: (9)

I am concerned now! I have a set of new .040" Cometics to go on my new shortblock, and never once heard of them leaking and stuff. Hell, I paid extra for them cause they were "re-usable" WTF?

2001CamaroGuy

iTrader: (6)

never had a leak....period....and my gaskets have been on and off 10+ times......

it's all in how the deck/head surface is prepared.....do it right and you will never have problems.....do it wrong (or put a big scratch in the surface) and you will never get things sealed.....

ArcticZ28

iTrader: (14)

That's basically all it boils down to. The reason I used the copper spray was that I was using used heads from someone and I wasn't 100% sure that the mating surface was perfect, so I played it safe. If they are both new/clean mating surfaces, there should be no need for the sealant.

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iTrader: (7)

Well, I picked the car up and drove it about 30 miles, put it in the garage. I didn't use any fluide at all, and didn't see any leaks where there previously was one. I guess the heat cycling worked. Thanks for the input.

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