Its the second bolt in from the front, p***enger side. This bolt also holds my upper alternator bracket. I replaced it with a longer bolt, as the bracket took up some of the bolt length, and wiped a bit of black silicone (all i had around at the time) on the threads, then retorqued it. It seemed to help at first, but i see it starting to weep around the bolt a little bit again... I really don't want to pull the intake over one small leak if its not gonna hurt anything, but am wondering if theres any way the coolant could get into the oil if its getting up the threads of this bolt. A buddy of mine who's a pretty good wrench said there's no worry of it getting into my oil, and is a common place to develop a small leak since the bolt goes through a water p***age, but i'd like a second opinion... I see no evidence of water in the oil, but there wouldn't be too much in it at this point anyhow. Any way to seal it up short of pulling the intake and regasketing? Its a brand new engine, with fel pro blue intake gaskets on a Performer intake, cast iron heads.
that one small leak might be one big one inside the motor, for the time it takes you to yank the intake and reseal it, it'd be a lot less headache and piece of mind in the future.
The bolt (#2 from front?) does NOT go through a water p***age. It's along side the water p***age that leads to the thermostat area. I think i'd be a little worried if the water's going sideways that distance, that it could travel down as well towards your lifter valley (in the oil now).
that bolt does not go through a water p***age , in fact none of them do .but it's real close to a water p***age...the leak must be in the gasket, maybe a small tear , or it's not torqued properly not trying to scare you , i once had an intake gasket leak coolant into the crankcase ..had about three extra quarts of brown milkshake in it i'd fix it with new gaskets. are you sure it's from that bolt? or is the water neck leaking and it's running down to it?
No, its definitely coming from the bolt, in fact, when i removed the shorter bolt to replace it, the threads were wet. What about radiator stop leak to seal the gasket/leak? My 80 year old grandfather told me he has used it successfully for 50 years on everything from flattys to farm tractors to fix all sorts of gasket leaks and failures... I know, I'm skeptical too, but he's been around the block a few times and usually knows what hes talking about with stuff like this. Hate to dump any gunk in my new radiator/ motor though...although I guess it wouldn't hurt anything. BTW, thanks for the ideas guys! Keep em coming.
Depending on the cylinder heads, some have blind tapped holes others have through holes into the end water p***ages. I always seal the end two bolts on all four corners of the intake, plus when I install the gaskets I put sealer on both sides of the gasket at the water p***ages. Have the heads or block been milled excessively? Sometines that will contribute to a poor seal on intake gasket surfaces. And yes, it could be leaking on the bottom side into the lifter valley too. Is there any milkiness to the oil? If you remove the valve covers, the milkiness may be evident on the rocker arms.
In order for Stop-Leak remedies to work, the leak must be bad enough (enough flow of coolant) that the product will find the leak and fill it in. It might not seal a leak that is just weeping. I'd change gaskets before putting stop leak in a new motor and radiator.
The engine is a GM crate motor, low horse Mexican block with standard stock heads as shipped. No machine work or milling, in fact they've never been off. No sign of milkiness of the oil, no odor, odd color, or anything to the oil... thats why i don't think its going anywhere but up through the threads, and as i said, its not a severe leak, just a few drops that i find on the intake after the car has run awhile. I just freak out about the "what if" of it, and it sounds like others do too... basically if someone would have sealed the threads before I got it, and stopped the coolant from leaking onto the intake, i wouldn't see anything else abnormal. To be honest, I think the cause of the problem initially was the fact that the original bolt used was too short, since it was the same length as all the other intake bolts but was also holding a bracket and about 3 washers.
Get the Permatex in the little white can with the brush in the cap. Shake the can good, maybe even stir it with a popsicle stick. You want the stuff to be thick and tacky when you brush it on the threads. Clean the silicone rtv sealant off the threads thoroughly, use brake clean or laquer thinner. Remove and reinstall the corner bolts, one at a time. Don't start the engine until the next day. Oh, and make sure you have drained enough coolant to be below that level of the engine too.
ok. probably gonna start a huge debate here...but... put in a small can of "bars leak".. all oem's use it (or a copy of it) in new motors as they are ***embled..plus the water soluable oil acts as a corrision inhibiter and as a surfectant ( makes water wetter, like antifreeze) any machine shop worth their salt installs "dry tabs' when they installs freeze plugs as they ***emble... just another form of bars leak.. the only downside to bars leak is seeing the water/coolant turn milky white when it mixes in. but, it's a small price to pay for the benifits. dave
if that is a temp sender//heater hose fitting next to the " bolt " try and repalce it with a pipe plug (for trial) and see if your "bolt" still weeps could be the fitting leaks at pressure ... cracked when installed with silicone in stead of tef tape.. paperdog
I know with 100% certainty its the bolt, not the water neck, or the temp sender... you can actually watch the coolant droplets form around the head of the bolt as its running, and as i said before, when the old bolt was removed the threads were wet with coolant. What was stated about the BarsLeak I have heard elsewhere, that it won't hurt anything, and is actually a good preventative measure... if you don't think it can harm anything, I'm thinking its worth a shot... how long does it take to actually start working (if its gonna work) ? Someone told me it all ends up laying in the bottom of the rad, and doesn't actually all dissolve... Don't know if thats BS or not, as I know the coolant moves throughout the radiator and gets plenty hot.
Just me but I would p*** on the stop leak..it has to be a pretty easy fix unless threads are stripped????
Get some teflon pipe sealant -- and put it on the threads. Clean any excess off once its torqued so it looks neat. http://www.permatex.com/products/automotive/thread_compounds/a_thread_sealants/auto_Permatex_High_Performance_Thread_Sealant.htm I use the ac-delco version on every intake I do.
Is it a blind hole or not? Thread sealer in a blind hole is not going to fix the root of the problem. Since the top radiator hose is higher than the bolt, if the system was full, water would pour out of the hole when you changed the bolt, if it were not a blind hole. If this is a thru hole use teflon thread paste. If its blind, pull the intake and have a close look for the cause. My .02 Craig
I know many people will say I am crazy but the blue permatorque fel pro gaskets are to hard for an aluminum intake. I have seen exactly this problem happen many times. http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/misc/tech_center/install/misc/Intake_Manifold.pdf See page four under Gasket Surface Preperation. Edelbrocks wording: "Don't USE permatorque gaskets" You are lucky the water isn't in the pan.
I've had this sort of problem on small blocks. Pretty simple fixes... 1.) Remove the offending bolt, clean, apply sealer-I use the brown aviation grade Permatex-reinstall and leave it overnight. If it still leaks, go to step 2. 2.) Change intake gaskets. That's about it.
I have first seen this on the intake on my flathead. It may apply. Probably not.. Engine ran well, but I began to notice puddles of moisture gathering around low pooled areas of the intake. What I found was there was no leak ...no coolant leak... There was a vacuum leak and the cold air going into the hot manifold caused moisture to form in this area.
now that we are talking about gaskets....my experience (38 + years) is that the "permatorque" gaskets ARE too hard.. for the aluminum intakes and have had sealing issues with them... they work fine for cast intakes..i always use the felpro "performance" intake set or the mr.gasket black paper intake set with aluminum manifolds. the bars leak will flow all the way through the system..i believe it is because of the solouable oil... how ever,"alumseal" and it's clones will always end up piled up in a corner of the system... been racing, building motors and working in auto parts/machine shop since i was 12 years old...seen 1000's of motors apart, from all levels of service..some fresh, blown up 1 race old.. to 300k plus taxi motors... true , proven facts..1, bars leak will fix 98% of leaks/ weeps UNLESS its is a crack....2, iron***e ceramic seal will fix 98% of cracks ..if you follow the directions..(ceramic seal is used to install cyl. sleeves and valve seats)so you know it works! 3, the permatex avation grade gasket sealer works very well as a bolt sealer. we also use it to seal the head bolts to prevent coolant weepage. dave
The SECOND bolt hole does not thread into the water p***age. It threads into a hole in the head that is open to the lifter valley on the bottom end. If water is ending up on the head of the bolt then the water p***age is not sealed between the manifold and the head. Sealing the bolt MAY stop the weeping at the bolt but it will not stop a potential leak to the lifter valley. You have to remove the manifold to stop that leak. The motor looks like you spent some time and money on it. Why would you take a chance on water in the oil just to avoid the work of changing the manifold gaskets?
Don't take a chance...replace the gasket. if it is compromised now, with just a few miles, no amount of sealant,leak stopper,or pixie dust is gonna keep it from getting worse. and if the gasket tore upon installation to the inside, if it blows out...it blows out to the inside, and potentially wipes bearings. 2 hours of work versus a teardown and rebuild- you do the math.
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