I started up my motor for the first time tonight. There was a drip drip drip coming from the timing belt side. I thought it must be the water pump so I looked all around and its clean as a whistle. The leak looked like it was coming straight out of the timing belt tensioner or something.

I took the tensioner off and a steady stream off coolant came pouring out, then stopped about 5 minutes later. The leak is coming from the groove in the block above where the bolt for the tensioner goes into the block. I then popped off the radiator cap and another stream came out for about 2 minutes. 20 minutes later, there was still a steady drip coming out of the groove. If I cup my hand around the area, my hand will fill up with coolant.

I picked away at the silicone that is in there and now there is a steady stream coming out again.

When I got my block back from the machine shop (hot tank and hone) that groove was filled with silicone epoxy for some reason. On all other blocks I have seen that groove is just open space. My block prior going to the machine shop had zero issues.

This isn't my block, but for reference of what I am talking about.




Modified by dunkd at 2:40 AM 3/24/2006

 

my engine builder mentioned something like that to me a while back. he says sometimes there is a slight casting imperfection in that exact spot which caused coolant to leak.

you can either have it aluminium welded or fill that whole crack with some kind of epoxy. he filled mine with JB weld.

 

well i broke a bolt in my head guess were not going to be on the dyno tomarrow now are we?

 

don't be a puss and just fix it

 

This is dave, Im a puss, Leave a message hahaha

 

was this block sleeved with dartons?

 

yes it was

 

that sucks cody. if it was me, i would pull the timing belt and everything and jb weld it shut. just make sure its totally dry when u do it. jb will do the trick

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18CJDM GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This is dave, Im a puss, Leave a message hahaha</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18CJDM GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This is dave, Im a puss, Leave a message hahaha</TD></TR></TABLE>
yea break another bolt....loser

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by I Have an STD &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">that sucks cody. if it was me, i would pull the timing belt and everything and jb weld it shut. just make sure its totally dry when u do it. jb will do the trick</TD></TR></TABLE>
no doubt it will work. i used it when i broke an aluminum oil pan. the hole was 3 fingers wide...lol

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by amy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yes it was</TD></TR></TABLE>

i assume you were replying to my question. If so, How long ago was it sleeved, or moreso, what generation of darton sleeves were used?

 

it was sleeved last winter, ran all last summer without any problems. I am not sure how long that silicone has been in there, I did not notice anything when I first put the block together last winter, but I may have overlooked it.

They are the Darton M.I.D sleeves...

 

three fingers wide huh dave? sounds more like a personal problem to me

 

brian i am banning you from my thread.

BANNED.

 

easy now if it wasnt for me you would have never known about the drippy

 

If the #1 cylinder sleeve step is machined to deep sometimes it will break into that groove.I've just welded the slot up, but I knew the problem before the engine was assembled.A stop leak coolant additive may take care of the problem.

 

drain the coolant, brakekleen it real good. Devcon f-2 aluminum epoxy will seal that forever, and wont fall out with heatcycles.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NJIN BUILDR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If the #1 cylinder sleeve step is machined to deep sometimes it will break into that groove.I've just welded the slot up, but I knew the problem before the engine was assembled.A stop leak coolant additive may take care of the problem.</TD></TR></TABLE>
thats what i heard as well. you have to turn the sleeve down otherwise it will leak (but darton denies this). i dont think it is detrimental, I think the devcon would work for you.

-Francisco

 

well I have JB Weld in there now curing. I am going to put it back together tomorrow mourning and hopefully it will hold up so I can have the car tuned.

 

I let it cure overnight and put it all back together this mourning. It ran fine for about five minutes then just started leaking again from the same spot. The leak came through on the very bottom towards the front of the groove. I prepped it the best it is going to get so it looks like I need to go a different route.

 

if the block was sitting horizonatlly (in chassis) the epoxy would have leveled itself out and failed to seal. try again with the car jacked up agressively to one side perhaps?

obviously the proper thing to do is pull the block and have the gap welded and flycut (if necessary)

 

Try Bars Leak in your coolant. It forms a fiber patch from the inside as coolant flows through. Darton and GE used to recommend using this in all of their sleeved blocks. It aids in head gasket seal as well also lubes your water pump. One draw back is it can clog your heater core.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mike_belben@yahoo.com &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if the block was sitting horizonatlly (in chassis) the epoxy would have leveled itself out and failed to seal. try again with the car jacked up agressively to one side perhaps?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I did have it jacked up on the one side and the JB weld dried inside of the groove. The leak is coming out the bottom of the groove.


this is right before i put it back together...




Modified by dunkd at 7:51 PM 3/25/2006

 

Try the Bars Leak. It works well.