Is the coolant pipe on back of heads necessary
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Is the coolant pipe on back of heads necessary I am putting together a new motor I bought to replace my old one and transferring my accessories and stuff over as I only got just the block and heads with the new motor and on the back of the heads where the coolant crossover pipe goes, the holes are blocked off with plugs that are in there really tight. I snapped off a 3/8" to 1/4" adapter in the one (after pulling out a broken end of an adapter that was in their when I bought the motor) so it's pretty tight. I have eliminated the coolant going through the throttle body a long time ago and I believe that is all this coolant line seems to be there for so if I don't put it back on the new motor am I going to be ok or is it going to be bad for the motor? Obviously I'll have to seal off the rad where the hose that connects to this pipe went in but if I can eliminate some more clutter in my engine bay I would be happy... as well as not have to deal with those tight plugs. 
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Yes the crossover is necessary otherwise the engine "WILL Overheat" and blow the head gaskets. And if you can't find a stock on you can use AN lines and fittings, that's what I did, plus it just looks better to me.
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No, I'm not sure. The front of the heads also have plugs in each if the holes. Does it matter functionally which way the heads go on? The plugs at the back are extremely tight. My 1/4" drive ratchet is twisting. I tried the punch trick and that didn't do it. Any other suggestions?
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That's what I thought. Not sure how I'm going to get those stubborn plugs out. I read of a few people running without that line and one person mentioned that if the car runs cool, it's not as likely to be a problem. My car barely barely gets above the first line on the coolant temp gauge with the computer time I have. I would still like to get that line on there but I'm almost ready to take my chances on it. :S
Last edited by cruiser78; May 24, 2012 at 11:38 AM.
Perhaps you should read about WHY it's there (specifically how it works) and not go blindly hoping that running without it will be alright.
Keep working at getting the plugs out.
Keep working at getting the plugs out.
Yes its required and for the reasons for preventing overheating and hot spots like what others here said. If it were not required, GM would not have wasted the X amount of dollars to outfit every LT1 with it. Folks who dont run it just have not encountered the perfect storm of conditions to casue a the failure, yet.
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I do know now after doing some reading up on it why they are there and that's why I said I was almost ready to take my chances on it. I really don't want to though and if I can't get anything else to work I will probably carefully drill them out and then retap them if necessary as a last resort.
thanks for all the replies so far. I do appreciate the help and keeping me on the right path.
thanks for all the replies so far. I do appreciate the help and keeping me on the right path.
Try heating up the heads in the area of the plugs. The aluminum will expand more than the plugs and they should loosen up. Also while the head is hot if you have some parrafin wax touch it to the plugs and it will wick into the threads and act as a lubricant.
