Re: Khan's Motoring Chronicles
had some bungs welded into my headers and repainted them
got new gaskets and put the top end back together. Sealed the waterpump more thoroughly. And used the Edelbrock gasgacinch on the intake gasket water holes this time, not the rtv. Cleaned and re'used the head gaskets. Put the system to 15psi this time, at the cap's rating, and left it over night
next day, found water in the cylinders again. So heads and intake are back off... I'm very puzzled. I've talked to my machinist and I'm re-measuring everything. So far I've measured a fairly flat deck, variances of 0.0015" max on driver side, and 0.0025" max on passenger side. I placed the heads bare on the block to see if they seat properly, check for any rocking or uneven placement, check if I can see light thru between them.
Everything looks fine so far. I'll be checking head surface variances tomorrow.
I don't know enough to understand what's happening. And I can't find anyone else that does this pressure test. I've talked to machinist and we walked thru some Q&A to see if I've done anything wrong. He says he's never done this test before running an engine, only after. So gasket might seal better after a run?
Is this test valid for this engine? How much coolant pressure does the system see during operation? Machinist says to try compression test instead. I'm torquing head bolts to 65psi with thread sealer, following the correct circular pattern. Should I try 70psi? or will that distort the aluminum heads?
... any other ideas?
