We have been building motors for years, and I know EVERY engine builder around here that does their own work uses RTV on the gaskets, ESPECIALLY the Super Ram. This goes for carb cars too.

The SR is a vacuum leak waiting to happen. And the RTV just makes it that much more less likely to have one or get one down the road when everything "settles" in.

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with using rtv on the installation, it just lessen the chances of what your experiencing. Especially when your talking about the other fluid (air) leaking in, causing a vacuum leak which will be much less noticable and much harder to detect.

 

Jesse - Relax, the wording was "you should not have to use an excessive amount of RTV". I did not say "don't use any RTV". It wasn't directed as a jab at you, but apparently you took it that way. I was trying to offer a quick, simple troubleshoot that would possibly save some headaches since I had the exact same thing happen. I think you're taking things a bit too seriously.

 

i'm confused. tomcat-pilot was only referred to not using TOO MUCH rtv on the manifold.

jesse, it sounds to me like you're trying to give guidance on the SR runners/plenum gaskets. some may need RTV in these areas, but really it should be installed with DRY gaskets. its understandable to use RTV, as its the way to avoid more $$ that would be spent correcting the product in the first place, which obviously would cause a great deal of heartburn with anyone since these intakes are awfully expensive.

maybe i'm way off base here in my interpretation.

edit: i now see i posted this after tomcat-pilot already responded. sorry for the redundancy.

 

I have installed the SR intake at least 25 times over the years, and I have had the exact same problem that Tomcat-Pilot described more than once. Especially if you are running aftermarket heads(seems that the bolts hole always needed to be elongated because the lower would never seat all the way flush, but would torque down fine to the naked eye). Have your mechanic take the intake off again and lay the lower in place with no gaskets and look at the alignment of the bolt holes. Make sure there is adequate clearance in all the holes on each side. You may have the elongate the holes just a tad to get the right bolt clearance. Also for what it's worth, I have never had to use any RTV on a SR install for anything other than the ends of the lower and a tad around the waterjacket passages on the head to intake gaskets. Never a vacuum leak unless it was crappy gasket or had the runners on the wrong side one time.

 

A leak-down test would give a quickish indication of whether
the cylinder has been compromised before going to
the trouble of R 'n R-ing the manifold.

Wouldn't even need a leak-down guage, just one of those
adapters for applying air through a plug hole. If it can't hold
air, especially if air noise is heard in the coolant system then
there is more than an intake gasket problem here.

 

Guys I wasn't trying to be a jerk with my post or my replies

Its just that I have done this intake more times than I care to remember and the thing is prone to leaks, therefore I was just trying to stress the importance of RTV to help alleviate the problem.

And again this doesn't just apply to the SR intake, while it is more susceptable, other intakes develope vacuum leaks over time, and the RTV is almost a fullproof way to keep this from happening.

Think about it, what keeps air out when no rtv is used? Pressure. If the pressure lessens or the gaskets shrink, which they do, then you have a leak. The RTV keeps the air out and is more flexible than the gasket.

It WILL save headaches down the road I assure you of that. Been there, done that sorta thing.

Sounds to me like if you take all this advice to your mechanic, you should be up and running in no time. The advice on opening the holes from Tomcat was a good one.

 

ok which is #8 b/c I am becoming confused. he is telling me that this is a free flowing leak and must be caused by the new intake. accel is telling me that something must be hooked up wrong. I do not know, maybe there is something simple I overlooked or reinstalled in the wrong place

we did have some confusion with the 2 holes in the front of the SR lower where there was only one in the stock intake

 

Jesse, as you know installing an intake manifold requires the use of RTV. Its in the manual. Besides, I've never heard of not using sealant for manifold install. Not sure of the point you're making to stress this


Crazy, #8 cyl. is located on passenger's (left) side, closest to firewall.
Here's the layout:

rear (firewall)
8 7
6 5
4 3
2 1
front

 

i just dont see how we are free flowing 2 gals of water from the radiator to the #8 that fast, #8 was full before the car was started. I just cant help but think we are talking more than a bad gasket or something

 

as ski_dwn_it mentioned earlier, attempting to start the engine with coolant filling a cylinder (from whatever the original cause might have been) might cause damage, namely a cracked cylinder wall, etc. this is a scary point. i would make the mechanic check for this. you're right, 2 gallons is insane.

 

Check my post above, it will fill that fast if the intake is not seated properly. If the holes are tight the intake will ride up no matter what torque sequence you use. Mine did this on the 90 and I ended up filling my whole engine with water..all the cylinders that happened to have open valves as well as the oil pan. So yes it can easily fill that fast. Otherwise it sounds like you forgot to plug a hole somewhere in the intake.

Lee

 

he is tearing it back down now, we should see tommorow

 

Accel super ram intake quality control is non existant. The machined surfaces on the first intake manifold I received from Summit was so visibley bad I had to return it. After installing the second on my 90 I had a bad vacuum leak. After much chagrin I traced it back to the EGR passage machining done by Accel. They machined beyond the gasket line creating a leak. Because I had installed it they would not do anything for me. Like installing it changed the way it was machined.

To your problem. Even if the manifold was warped, it would not explain the amount of water you are leaking. I hate to say it, but I think you hydraulicly locked the engine. The small leak from the manifold filled your #8 cylinder and you did some damage when you cranked it over. Pray you broke a water passage in the head. Its less painful than the alternatives. Good luck.

 

Did I recently hear there was a QC problem with the Accel intakes? Something about boltholes to the heads being misaligned which caused sealing problems and their having to recall a bunch of units?............

I for one don't believe in coincidence, and if your intake was new.........

 

I have heard that too, we will know tommorow

but from what I hear I have no chance of getting a refund from Accel

 

I agree, probably not. But if that sucker is the proximate cause of your grief and you end up losing money that has a comma, I'd file in the local small claims court. I think you'd end up recovering the damages (up to the allowable amount that is).

I think it's about time these manufacturing icons be held accountable for cryin' out loud

 

Tim, If its a mfg defect that causes loss, I sick and tired of the BS, then its a defective product and the mfr is accountable. problem is, i bet there aren't enough folks out there who follow thru, FORCING accountability....via the court....just like a certain other "entity" we well know here.....

 

but would the engine still turnover if it had locked?

 

I think my point was explained pretty clearly in the above post, but nevermind that...I see now where your from...so I see YOUR point in asking ME questions. The username change had me fooled for a moment

At any rate, I wish the original poster the best...I certainly hope you get out of it without any serious problems. There are some decent suggests from the posts above that should get you to a point of sound testing, which at that point depending on the results of the tests (water or not) you will know more digging is necessary.

PS: one last thing, and its almost too obvoius to suggest, but I have seen the obvoius overlooked before....did you or the mechanic check the intake itself, up in the runners for casting flaws, that might have the water passages and runners connected - which would be a direct path for water to enter your cylinder? I know its almost too easy - but warrants asking.

Another suggestion to let you know if its major engine damage, is put the intake on, pull your rocker arms off # 8, which will close that cylinder from water entering from "above" past the valve -and if water comes out the sparkplug hole still, then you have MAJOR trouble, like a cracked cylinder wall.

Ok....it makes me cring talking about MAJOR problems...so I must stop.

Again wish you the best.

 

i know what you're inferring, and thats not why i asked the questions...it was for the general benefit.