Surfer69

Had the car towed back to the garage today. After stalling a couple times I pulled over and took the filter off and saw water droplets all over the top of the carb. Next I checked the stick which told me the dreaded news. My new 383 has got more problems.

It's got to be either the head or intake gasket. I just fixed an oil leak 2 weeks ago with new 2105 intake gasket and I used sealant on both sides of gasket at water port. I dont think it's the head gasket since between stalls it ran strong, so I think the stalls were just water vapor being sucked from the valve covers up into the carb top and intake.

Anyway just more drama I didnt need. I'll pull intake off tonight and check to see what I can find. I just want to make sure it doesnt happen again once I fix this.

RagTop69

How far did you drive it like that? Could be bigger than a 383 now.

Surfer69

I would say I drove for less than a mile.

Also I'm worried that when I take the intake off, I wont be able to tell where the failure was since the gasket may tear due to sealant I used.

7T1vette

Water in oil...but it doesn't sound like you had any antifreeze in it. That would look more like silly-putty and is really nasty to clean up./

marshrat99

I'm hoping it is the intake gasket. Wondering is a radiator leak down test might help confirm?

Surfer69

I should point out that I used Ultra Black as the sealant around the water port holes. This is a silicone sealant. I've seen where they say not to put a certain kind of sealant around the holes cause it can affect the gasket. Maybe UB is one of those? In the past I've never had any issues though.

7T1vette

I haven't used it, but I would think silicone sealant is not something you would want to use on a gasket. Maybe a metal-to-metal surface, but not sure silicone would bond well to synthetic gaskets. Check the gasket manufacturer's website to see if they recommend any particular sealant or type of sealant.

straub18045

silicone is a no-go on gasket surfaces, a sure leak. the supplied dry gasket while torqued is the proper assembly.

Surfer69

OK, new developement. I started stripping her down and found the rear most, lower head bolt loose, as in finger tight loose. I can see some leakage rusty orange stains at the head/block intersection by this bolt.

Now the question is, if it is just this one location causing water to get into the oil, do I just re-torque the one bolt and hope the head gasket is still good. Then change oil and see if it leaks again?

Or bite the bullet and tear everything apart?

DEMITRISTYLES

CORVETTEKARL

The head bolts need to be installed with sealant on them. I use ARP thread sealant. Most of the Chevy head bolt holes are threaded into the water jacket and therefore must be sealed. If you know all the others have sealant on them then you could try re-installing the one bolt with sealant, clean everything up and see what happens.
Good luck.

AutoX-Z06

after the heads are off its not to much more. and you have piece of mind.

marshrat99

You could try just re-torquing the head but IMO best to pull the head, have it magnifluxed to check for cracks and straightness and install a new gasket. I know it is a PITA but at least you'll have piece of mind when you're done.

Surfer69

Nice pic Dimitri....

Further inspection has found 3 loose head bolts same side.

I'm going to tear the whole thing down now. I know I torqued these bolts so I'm wondering why they would have backed off? They are ARP bolts which I used ARP lube under the heads with Permatex white thread teflon sealant on the threads during the initial build. I pulled the heads a couple months ago (none loose) but had run out of ARP lube so I used oil instead with the same Permatex white on the threads. They had said to up the torque with oil so I think I went to 75 ft-lbs instead of the original 70 AFR and ARP had recommended.

Now I'm wondering if maybe that was too low. This time I'll buy the ARP lube and thread sealant. Also it's only the most fwd and the most aft bolts that were loose. The end ones on the bottom row, and the most fwd one inside the valve cover

The other head bolts passenger side appear all tight. It never ends does it?

gingerbreadman1977

i would use felpro gaskets and nothing else .make sure all the surfaces are micky mouse and perfectly clean with a wipe of metho or something before installing them. no sealant needed on them. i use GM headbolt sealer on all the bolts , torque them in the correct order and it should be good.

ImBatman

Surfer,

I feel your pain hang in there. I just had to pull my motor after only 300 miles due to a bad sleeve install by the machuine shop. I was sick for days!!!! However on the plus side I learned from a lot of guys on here some really great diagnostic tests.

One of the must benificial tests I did was the coolant pressure test. I wanted to try everything possible to avoid pulling the motor unless I had to. I like you found a couple of loose head bolts. First thing I did was retorque just those and then check the torque on all the others. Once done I did the pressure test. You will find if you have a problem pretty quick with this.

I went through several other tests, 2 sets of head gaskets, 2 sets of intake gaskets, Heads off 3 times , heads checked and found to be warped on passenger side so milled .010. Reinstalled still coolant leak!! Finally pulled all plugs and spun the motor and found water shooting out the #3 plug hole!!!! Swaped head sides to eliminate the head as the failure point and sure enough still had the same #3 leak. Finally pulled the motor , tore it down and sure enough the sleeve was on #3 and it failed. Block has been at the "NEW" machine shop for about 2 weeks now.

Hopefully you want have problems as serious as this. Don't panic just take your time and check and recheck! I learned a lot through my expereinces and I cannot take the credit for it as most of what I did was recommended from guys here and on DC.

Good Luck!

Wade

Also, sorry I just remember this. The best way to tell if it is coolant or just water is to touch it and then touch it to your tongue. If it has any hint of a sweetness at all you have coolant in the oil. Of course wipe your tongue immediately and you are only touching your tongue with a very small amount. Do a search on my screen name and you will see the nightmares I went through. Hopefully once I get the block back those will all be behind me.

Surfer69

Thanks Blackrat I do feel the same pain you're going through. My new 383 was installed during Thanksgiving and it's been nothing but nit picky stuff since. Oil leaks, cam failure, clutch adjustments, more oil leaks and now this. You spend all your time researching how to do everything correct, then things still go haywire anyway.

At least the good news is when it's running, it's a blast. Time to order new gaskets.....

ImBatman

You like me will get it right sooner or later.... This was the first engine I had built in 20 years and read all the books, assembled in a clean room, used quality parts and went painfully slow at every phase of assembly.

I llok at mine this way. Sense it is out I can re clean everything and paint it up nice and pretty again and hopefully remember all the little things that I expereinced on startup last time so they don't happen again.


Wade

7T1vette

The silicone sealant is likely the CAUSE of the low bolt torques. Silicone is, essentially, rubber....rubber compresses and expands. As your engine heats up and cools down the 'rubber' squeezed in between the heads and block is allowing the bolts to lose torque. Remove the heads, clean up the mess and put on some good gaskets. If you did the same on other surfaces, you probably want to correct those too. Sorry.

ZL1powr

Surfer .... What kind of head gaskets did you use. Did they require re-torque after a heat cycle?