Whickman

I have almost new LT1 motor that I installed in a vehicle about a year ago. When I did it, I took out all the oil and the only coolant would have been in the block since it wasn't attached to anything. I went to put oil in it today and took off the oil pan plug to make sure nothing was in there. To my surprise, a small amount of coolant came out of the pan (maybe a couple of ounces). I'm trying to figure out where it would have come from? I had an issue earlier with water getting by the head bolts and dripping down the side of the block. But I thought I had that fixed and besides the water should have been lower than deck level with no hoses on the water pump. Anyone have any thoughts or similar experiences? If the motor were tipped sideways in the transfer process, would that do anything to cause this?

Should a do new head and water pump gaskets as a safefy measure? PITA! Or do I run it for a few miles with new oil and see if we have the same issue?

Thanks,
Whit

Formula350

iTrader: (3)

Hmm ok... weird. What head gasket did you use? Get the Impala SS ones (thinner, free compression boost of around .20 - .40), and make SURE you use thread sealant on the head bolts (seals of course and helps keep them tight[not loctite, but if you want adding it with the sealant probably couldn't hurt.]), as well as tightened down to TQ spec and tightened down in the correct order/pattern. But other than that, not sure.

Whickman

I had some high performance aftermarket gaskets when I had the leak. I replaced those with standard Camaro gaskets and made sure to use plenty of sealant. The motor ran well after that and I did not see any sign of coolant leakage. I then drained the motor of coolant buy pulling off the radiator hoses and emptied the oil. It then sat on it's side for awhile before going into it's new home. I have several hundred hours into this new vehicle and wasn't counting on this being a problem. I really don't want to pull the heads if I don't need to.

Is there any other logical place for water to get into the oil pan other than the head gaskets? I don't see how it would do that if the coolant level was lower than the head. And with zero pressure.

Thanks. Whit