Coolant leak! PLEASE HELP!
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,226
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From: Louisville TN
St. Jude Donor 06
Coolant leak! PLEASE HELP!
I have a 2000 C5 LS1 head and cam car. I am trying to track down a coolant leak. The leak started a couple of weeks ago. From what I can tell the coolant is dripping off the engine cradel at the rear of the engine near the oil drain plug. I first thought it was the coolant passage block offs on the rear of the heads now I'm not sure. I noticed tonight that when I ran my hand along the base of the drivers side head that it is was wet. Possibly a leaking head gasket? No whtle smoke yet or coolant in the oil. Car still runs strong. I have ARP head studs and am running .041 GM gaskets. I'm stumped as to were it could be coming from. Also looking down on the drivers side there seems to be coolant puddled up along the ridge where the oil pan connects to the engine block.
I have been smelling coolant burning when the car is shut off ever since the mechanic reinstalled the heads and ARP studs. Could the studs be torqued incorrectly causing a leak?
Please help guy this is driving me nuts! Thanks. :judge:
I have been smelling coolant burning when the car is shut off ever since the mechanic reinstalled the heads and ARP studs. Could the studs be torqued incorrectly causing a leak?
Please help guy this is driving me nuts! Thanks. :judge:
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
Likes: 192
From: At the beach in little Rhody
Do you know how he tightened them down and what he used for lubricant on the ARP studs? The ARP studs are very specific on the thread friction to attain the correct preload. 70 lb-ft is the correct value on the 10 main studs with ARP Assembly lubricant. (Note the little guys are lower, 23 lb-ft from memory but check the value before using) If the ARP lubricant isn't used, the torque value is adjusted accordingly. You need to find out what he used.
Which gaskets were used, the MLS are thicker than the value you stated?
I am assuming he cleaned the block surfaces real well.
Which gaskets were used, the MLS are thicker than the value you stated?
I am assuming he cleaned the block surfaces real well.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 752
Likes: 1
From: Tulsa OK
I have been reading articles about head installation and an important step is to completely blow out and dry the haed bolt holes in the block with compressed air to make sure there is no coolant in the bottom of the holes before the heads are installed and bolts tightened. Any coolant in the bottom of the bolt holes will expand with heat and the hydaulic pressure may crack the block. The photos in the article showed almost un-noticable hair line cracks while some others were really bad.
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,226
Likes: 0
From: Louisville TN
St. Jude Donor 06
As far as I know the studs a torqued correctly and the holes were blown out.(not sure how well I wasn't standing over him at the time) The mechanic is a reputable Vette mechanic so surely he would have known what to do.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
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From: At the beach in little Rhody
Originally Posted by Y2KVert
As far as I know the studs a torqued correctly and the holes were blown out.(not sure how well I wasn't standing over him at the time) The mechanic is a reputable Vette mechanic so surely he would have known what to do.
Also, the MLS gaskets are very critical on surface finish and cleanliness, not sure if that is an issue either.
