Hello long time since listening; Long time since calling. So after 13 years I'm finally trying to get back at it. I put together a blue block 455 with Bulldog Aluminum heads. A couple of heat cycles cause the engine to leak antifreeze from underneath the two center cylinders on either side Afterwards heat and cooling cycles of the ambient air will cause the opening to open and close leaving a puddle of antifreeze. I found the Felpro gaskets pulled 13 yrs ago and the picture is attached. Note near the pencil point how close the edge of gasket to the water port. I currently have installed gaskets provided by TA performance that are not Felpro blues as pictured and they're doing the same thing. I'm guessing this is where the leak is from. Aside from Tig welding up the heads to remove the sharp corner from the port and thus increasing the area of the gasket that seals (though it looks like it's getting a good seal) does anyone have any other ideas of what I can try?
Something isn't flat,..or tq sequence isnt being done correctly If the decks check true,...you can use a THIN smear of black rtv around the ports Are you letting the heads settle over night or a couple days then retorqueing them?
Holy crap...blast from the past! Welcome back.. What does the underside of the head look like there? Looks awfully skinny...and like the water port is poorly shaped.
1. As said, I'd have concerns about the block being flat and smooth, and the heads being flat and smooth. 2. I would re-torque at least once, and perhaps twice before pulling the thing apart again. 3. Any chance the heads are porous? I've heard Bulldog has had problems with porosity. 4. Nobody is going to like this, but I'll say it anyway. IF I had coolant seepage on a fresh engine, I would strongly consider a chemical sealer. In fact, I had an Olds 455 that would spurt almost a urine-stream from a failed weld attempt to repair damage done while enlarging the pushrod holes. I bought a can of K&W Permanent Metallic Block Seal, read the directions, opened the can. The can I bought was old, and all the "active ingredient" had settled to the bottom. I mashed it up good, mixed it back into the watery solution, poured it in the radiator, and over the course of about an hour, the leak sealed itself. It's been--I don't know, perhaps ten years? Maybe more?--and "so far, so good". ALL THE ANTI-FREEZE HAS TO BE FLUSHED BEFORE YOU PUT THE K&W SEALER IN! https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...-block-seal-head-gasket-repair/401016/4405458 There are other sealers, even GM has "pellets" that were inserted in new engines with a history of coolant seepage, like the crappy Cadillac HT4100. Hell, some guys dump a small can of ground, black pepper in the radiator. But the KW is stuff I've actually used successfully.
If both head and deck surfaces check out then you need to confirm that the head bolt used there is not bottoming out! Is the head bolt boss in that location the same height as on a stock head, as at times I have seen them mistakenly cut short enough to be a issue with blind head bolt holes in blocks. Any head bolt sticking out passed the bottom of the head with the gasket held on it by more then 3/4" can be a issue on some motors. As a precautionary set what I have done at times is to take some solid core 18ga wire, solder it as in the picture, form it as needed and lightly tack hold it to the head side of the gasket and this always works well! Note that in my photo I only had 12ga solid to show you.
Very true the bolt length could be an issue those bulldog heads were garbage imo so I wouldn't be surprised if they had an issue there
I've thought to do the RTV. I have not re-tourqued them. Hey buddy! hope you've been well. Yep the port is D shaped vs the round per OE and TA. I'd fill the corners of the D via TIG if necessary then machine the head. I've even thought JB weld. Possible porosity but they look great. I believe these were the 2nd run of heads and the first run had more off the issue. Funny you mention the chemical sealer. See the tan stuff on the gasket? Yep, its the 'pellets' not GM but autoparts store :-D BTW raw egg and pepper works in a brass radiator. Neither work on broken plastic side tanks. I'm using ARP studs, so the bottoming out shouldn't be a problem though i don't recall if they're shouldered. I'm not completely following your copper/washer solution. Is that make a ring of copper wire that's the same size or thicker than the gasket and put it around the water port?
A friend had this issue with a set of aluminum heads. He sprayed the gaskets with Permatex copper then retorqued the heads after the warm up & cool down cycle. It took 3 times doing this until there was no movement of the bolts.
It takes a couple retorques if you don't let the gasket crush and settle. I've always let mine sit for 48 hrs if all possible,..and even a few hrs between settings,..60ftlb let sit 80 let sit 110 sit overnight then break loose and retorque to 110 let sit overnight then check and if necessary break them loose and retorque,...overkill maybe but its easier than leaning over fenders fight water or combustion leaks Intake gaskets this especially important
If he is having a bolt bottoming issue, a switch from headbolts to head studs may be the ticket. Ya got the heads off the block, or at least one of em, correct? Jim
Check the header bolt holes. I had 2 Bulldog heads that the header bolt hole had made contact with the water jacket. It looked like a head gasket leak. Check the surfaces & retorque as others have said. I've used the Felpro Blue gasket on some of them with no leaks. The water jacket is close to the edge of the gasket.
I have Bulldog heads, as well, but have not fired them up. Do you have the first run or the second run? The second run was supposedly better? How did you finally seal this, put copper hi-temp silicone in the header bolt hole? Best, Ranger Aiken, SC
I didn't have a issue with my bulldogs but I did with a set of Al.stage2 SEs.Thought the leak was from the head as well. After I pulled it found also it was from 2 header bolt hole holes. Squeezed some hi temp silicone in and coated the bolt. After 24 hr cure the leak was stopped.
Ranger, heads were first run. One of the first sets Postons had. I used thread sealer on the bolts that leaked & had no problem with a leak. Used on 2 engines.
