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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Coolant at head bolts

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Coolant at head bolts     pcasner 08-09-2013 @ 11:13 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 38 Joined: Jan 2011 I recently installed adjustable valve lifters on my 47 V8. New head gaskets and head bolts tightened in stages in correct sequence. Engine runs fine, no white smoke but I have noticed on several of the head bolts a tiny drop of what appears to be coolant(green) at the juncture of the bolt thread and the nut. Is this amount of colant significant? Do I need to replace head gasket again? When I removed the heads some of the bolts were in so tight I had to use a vise grip wrench to remove them and that gouged some of the bolts. Could the coolant be tracking up on those gouge marks? Appreciate any thoughts. keith oh 08-09-2013 @ 1:08 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 116 Joined: May 2010 Save yourself a lot of misery and expence, put in a bottle of Bars Stop Leak, after retorking cold engine. carcrazy 08-09-2013 @ 1:43 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1653 Joined: Oct 2009 If you hate the thought of putting stop-leak into your engine as much as I do you might want to try what I did when I encountered a similar problem with my freshly rebuilt V8-60. First, drain all of the coolant out of the engine. Second, identify and mark all of the head studs that leak. Third, remove the offending studs. Fourth, clean the studs you have removed with lacquer thinner or similar strong non-oily cleaner. Fifth, coat the lower threads of the stud that thread into the block with a good non-hardening sealer like Permatex Number 2. Sixth, reinstall the studs into the block and re-torque all of the head nuts in the proper sequence. Seventh, fill the cooling system with distilled water and run the engine for twenty minutes to verify that all of the leaks have been stopped. Eighth allow the engine to cool down to room temperature and re-torque all of the head nuts. Ninth, drain the distilled water from the cooling system and re-fill with your coolant or anti-freeze of choice. Tenth, drive and enjoy your leak-free cool running Flathead V-8! 51f1 08-09-2013 @ 2:33 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 573 Joined: Oct 2009 I love it. The easy way or the right way. I prefer the right way every time. Richard ford38v8 08-09-2013 @ 4:19 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2758 Joined: Oct 2009 Carcrazy, that's the first time I've heard anyone knock BarrsLeak, and glad that I now have someone who thinks as I do about it. For all the good stuff you hear, there's still the nagging feeling that you'll get caught in the boonies one day with the same leak that you did a temporary fix on, only next time it'll be bigger. There's also the cramming up of the cooling system with junk that insulates against heat transfer. While it's true that these are not proven facts, they do make a thinking man wonder. That said, a bottle of BarrsLeak does have a respected place in the tool kit when you hit the cross country road. Alan kubes40 08-09-2013 @ 5:13 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 3396 Joined: Oct 2009 I would suggest a small tube of aluminum powder sealer for cooling systems. It stays in flow unless there is an outlet (a leak) and will NOT clog anything. The small amount of leakage you are describing will probably stop on its own with a few heating and cooling cycles. supereal 08-09-2013 @ 8:21 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 "Wet studs" are common when the block end of the stud haven't been coated with sealer when inserted. If the holes in the block have been cleaned with a threading tap, instead of a chasing tap, it is likely the block threads have been damaged. Always insert the studs only until the threads are full in the block, no further. We always replace all studs or bolts in every engine when the heads have been removed. Barr's Leaks is a good product, and used to be furnished with engines from "authorized rebuilders", but don't use it as a crutch to cover obvious leaks such as described.

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