Hello, today I've seen a small crack in the engine block where cooling water leaks out! My question, can I it be welding by a professional engine builder or does it give a sealing means which fill out the crack permanently? And a second question could these crack the result of overheating? Ask Wolfgang
Photos block Hey Wolfgang Need to know what location the crack has apeared ? Could you make some photos of it ? Martinius.
Block Cracks It depends on where the crack is ~ It's very common to get rust through right behind the generator . There's a method called " Swedish Welding " where they peen the crack to close it up . In general , blocks are considered ruined when they get cracks . 216 , 235 or 261 ? . Russ has a FREE 216 , might be worth your while to ship it over .
wolf look craked block repair check it out might work http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/engines/cracked block/
I6 Engines Close but not quite...... . I know where a 235 block & crank are lying ,I have no idea what they'd want for it but surely more than the average good running takeout 235 co$t$ .
If you want to sew it then Regis Tool Supply in Dallas, Texas still sells the drill, tap, and tapered cast iron screws to do the job. If you google "sew engine block" it gives information. DON'T buy from the supply place in California since they are at least triple the cost of Regis. For a short crack this is the best method but for a long one it's quite tedius. We had a 40 Pontiac with a l-o-n-g crack in a freshly gone through engine so I said what the heck, let's try something. Sandblasted the area to grey metal, "V" grooved the entire length of the crack, roughed up one inch on either side of the crack with a 24 grit disc and finally buried the crack with Marine Tex. This is the stuff designed for boat repair so it's completely immune to water. The Corvette guys swear by it also. It's held for two years now and that's with a 7# radiator cap. The crack is just above the white line and since it runs through a freeze plug hole we used a rubber expander plug rather than a drive it plug.
Good article! Ron This article is good information. The Author tells that he went to deep with his drill in some places and therefore i would mount a stopper on the drill chuck to avoid that issue. Technically its posseble to drill the ecaxt debt drill hole! Thanks.
The truth about welding of cast iron. The truth about the welding of cast iron. What important is that you understand that getting into electro-welding on cast iron to fix the cracks are the worst thing you can do. You can break your section if you planning to do it with electro-weld with nickel welding rods. Cast iron cannot withstand the contraction and the hardening caused by welding without pre-warmed to approximately 650 ? C (1200 ? F). Fabricate on the welding rod wire does not play such a big role. It is right that the material in the welding wire can be machined . But cast iron will be just as hard as anything else and machine processing is often necessary . Half of the injuries that are caused by electro-welding with disastrous results, which often costs the owner twice as much to get repaired properly. Even experienced welders will need several years of training in high temperature welding to perform welding of cast iron. Cast iron requires preheating to approximately 480 ? C (900 ? F) for soldering and about 700 ? C (1300 ? F) for Fusion welding. Cast Iron follows the laws of physics, even if you don't know them. There are spesial cast iron electrodes for sale in my country.I tryed it and repaired cast iron ovens with them with good result. If you wanna try to weld it your self you have to ask for those electrodes in Germany or Holland. I can help you getting them here if they are difficult to get if your are intrested ? I know that they are not cheap but anyhow you dont need many of them i think , depends on how big the crack is ofcourse ! Martinius.
Cast iron electrodes You are correct on that Martinius, you get them easily at pretty much every good welding supplier, but they are extremely expensive, i was shocked. Better go to a welder/fabricator and just buy a few, as having them lying around for a couple of years dont make them any better... But without experience, i would not give it a go, it?s easy, to screw up the whole block; rather use some cold metal for a temporary fix, while looking for a replacement engine/part.
Cast iron welding rods Thanks for the comment Elky. They can be bought by 1 Peace at the time if needed. Keeping them in the package or in a saeled plastic bag on a dry and dark place , this will keep them fresh. If Welding rods are kept in a room with hight humidity you can dry them in your Kitchen oven before using them. I`ll agree with you that this is a job for an educated welder to do . It would`nt be to hard to tow the truck to the workshop. By the way the Lock & stich sticks described in Rons web link are pretty good to use aswell. This compagny is worldwide and maybe there is a dept. in germany aswell? The fluid steel liguid is a 2 component product wich most car Product shops have. Martinius.
As usual.... I didn't understand much of your rambling post Martin. Once a monolithic cast iron engine block is cracked..... the only proper fix is replacement of the block..... Anything else is a temporary band aid & guaranteed to give you problems down the road.
Post What is it that you do not understand Joe. Cant you be a bit more spesific here ? Germany is a country where replacement blocks are not easy to find ! Magnaflowing the Block would tell whats wrong here really. I am just suggesting solutions for the guy nothing else. Besides of that i do not agree with you on the mather of not repairing the Block if posseble its wurth trying offcourse but in his case i would ask an professional welder to do the job. ! Martinius.
Pictures of the crack Hello, here three photos of the crack of my engine block. The crack is in the red circle. Wolfgang
Cracks! Well that looks bad as the crack is just behind the manifold i`ll gues that you have to lift the engine out and repair it.But how are you planning to do it ? The participants here on the thread have suggested different solutions ? Thanks for sharing the photos. Martinius.
Something I do with Cyanoacrylate Wolfgang, From the picture the engine is in the truck and to fix it by welding you would need to pull the engine out and have this professional weld it up not knowing if the block has further damage inside. Is this a matching #'S truck which you are fixing to win large show over there? Have you tried the additives which promise their products stop leaks? Does it loose its coolant fast while there is pressure on it or slow while there is pressure, or Does it leak when the cap is not on the radiator? Does it leak all along the cracks of the block or does on or two leak more than the others? If you need to wait as most of us do to get the funding in place, and you are going to weld it anyway without knowing what the inside has for you, or if you want to wait until you can get another block or engine (order a complete running modern 292 American, or Inline 6 from Brazil which held on to their fuel-injected straight-6 through the 1998 model year [Chevy] or an modern I 6 out of Australia Holden or a [Ford I6]) You can try this, drain the engine of its coolant save it all, then clean area, start engine and run about 10- seconds, shut off and then use a super thin Cyanoacrylate adhesive, apply it at the cracks above the crack and watch it seep into the cracks. Wait till it is dry, fill the engine with water start the engine and see if it leaks any let it warn up some put the cap on but leave it loose to see if it starts leaking any. If it leaks water some, shut it off drain and save the water, start the engine run for about 10 seconds then apply more Cyanoacrylate adhesive to the areas leaking let dry fill with the saved water start the engine and see if it still leaks. If this works you can drain the water out into a planter area fill the engine with the coolant, you can now start saving for a new better engine for your truck. If this does not work and you still have to weld, use finger nail polish remover to get the Cyanoacrylate adhesive out of the crack enough to weld the block back. As long as the block does not get cherry red or over 250 degrees F the glue will stay there. I have used the glue on many items like this it is now in a crack on the side cover of my truck now. I have used it on cracks metal items for years. You need to buy as fresh a glue as possible use, Satellite City?s? Hot Stuff?, http://www.caglue.com/, or Locktite http://www.henkelna.com/adhesives/loctite-6182.htm , only as they are the best Cyanoacrylate glues made world wide. Charles
I n 1964 coming home from Long Beach Ca. Driving a 1953 Pontiac Star Chief Long 8. She got hot and busted about 6" in Indio Ca. Old Man told me to get some egg keep at the drug store. I told him I did not know what it was, any way he took me to a drug store of sorts. The lady there called it by the proper name which I have forgot. It worked and got me back to Louisiana. I gave it to a life long buddy, lasted into the fall of 65 he threw a rod. End of story
Not welding first Hello Charles, at first I will try to close the cracks with wondarweld from Holts. Then, if this will work, I close the cracks outside with braze weld, if this all will not work, I put out the engine and give it away to weld it by a professional. I let you know what happens. Wolfgang
