Ok this is on topic but with an off topic car I will keep anonymous. But none the less it is an engine and it is american. I blew a head gasket a few months ago. Replaced the noticably toasted gasket had the head checked and decked and put the works back together. I made it a couple thousand miles and last week it started up really rough and puffing clouds of white smoke out of the tailpipe. So I tore it down and got a little more in depth with everything seein as there was no noticeable failure of the gasket and this is what I found At this point I figure I am at a loss if I dont attempt to fix this. I used to be a certified welder on heavy machinery so I have the knowledge and I have the tools. I have nothing to lose but time and I have plenty of that. So my plan is to V grind the cracks out, heat the hell out of it with mapp gas on the torch and burn the hottest weld I can into the groove. grind it down file it flat and hope to the hot rod gods it stays together long enough to get my ass to work and back a little while longer. Has anyone else attempted a fix like this? got any tips or tricks, or have even done it a completely different way?
i cant remember where i was reading it maybe hot rodder but anyways what they did was they took and drilled at either end of the crack and put like a set screw in it then welded in between. that was on the out side of the block though. it also wasnt from an opening like the water jacket. the other thing you would have to worry about is how the head would fit properly back on the block. probably might be easier to just replace
I have some machinist rulers and I was thinking I could check flatness with them after I file it down. If I am going to spend new engine kind of money I am just going to get a new car
what did you clean the block with? did you check to see if the deck is flat? i don't think that crack is the problem.
If you want out cheap and temporary try block sealer.My 59 has a cracked block or head and i put sealer in it. 6 months as a daily driver and so far so good . my motor was not worth fixing right (worn out)so nothing to lose if it did not work.
I wiped it down with mineral spirits and cleaned it up lightly with a scotch brite roloc pad. there were no other defects on the top of the block and the cylinder on the right was the one leaking the first time now its the one on the left. I checked the old gasket and the point of failure is right on top of the crack in the block. I checked the block with a larger machinists rule and I brought the head to my work and our machine shop put an ok on the vaccuum pull and checked it to be flat
Welding an engine block in that location is the worst option as cast iron is a crap shoot at the best of time to weld as the parent metal at weld edge becomes very hard and you ere unable to machine it.As well as expansion and contraction rates are very difficult to control. Metal stitching is designed to do that repair without much complication. some good reading here. http://www.locknstitch.com/CastIronWelding.htm http://www.locknstitch.com/RepairExamples.htm http://www.locknstitch.com/Products.htm Hope this helps.I have used pins many times in engine repair and success is great. Tig.
You may fix the crack that way but the cylinder will no longer be round. The top ring won't last long hitting an out of round bore. You may want to dig a little deeper for cracks that extend into the bore. I'd ditch that block.
An old timer once told me how to fix a crack like that. Slightly grind a v in it. Lay a piece of solid solder on it. Tap the solder in with a ball peen hammer. Put the head back on. Put some radiator or block sealer in it. The head will hold the solder in like a plug. Rad sealer will take up thatever is left. I have done it. It works. Might be forever or maybe not. That is what I would do as long as it is apart. If you hadn't taken it apart there are some things that seal up cracked heads and blocks that you just dump in. Some friends at garages say that the stuff works great if you follow the instructions. I don't know any names of products, but the say that some customers have 10's of thousand of miles on the stuff.
I am not a proffesional welder and sometimes ignorance is bliss I have very succesfully Mig welded cast iron with mild steel wire and moderet heat. Because when I first tried it, I didn't know it shouldn't be done. No pre heat. And let cool naturally. Just v-ing out the crack and laying in a weaved bead. fill over the surface and grind/file down to the right height. You;l see not a lot of heat affected zone. I've done blocks, heads and exhaust manifolds. If the part has oil soaked into it, heating with a torch to burn the oil away and off is the first step. I think your job could be v-eed and welded without burning. You got nothing to loose, you said if you can't save it it's scrap.
i agree with randydupree, i dont think that crack is the problem. go get some indian head gasket shellac and use a lot of it, that stuff seals so well you almost dont need head bolts.
try Moroso ceramic engine sealer I used some of the sealer on a friends BBC over 10 years ago and still no leaks. Pinhole in the block had water leaking thru the side of the block when hot.
we fixed diesel engines in Navy using the "stop drill" method and the "drilling/tapping/welding/grinding and do it over and over again" fix, no spare blocks at sea, it worked pretty good but time consuming.
Is the car new enough you can find them in a you-pull-it yard? Around here I can buy a complete motor for $100-$150 plus a core charge. That's not really that much money to spend versus the time and expense to try to fix that block and then go out and chance that the fix actually works and you won't have to do it again in a week or a month or whatnot. You run the risk of problems with the new motor, but usually you get a 30 day guarantee and there's no reason you can't take it apart and look at it before you run it.
Unless it`s a super rare engine I don`t think it would be worth the effort or money to fix it. I`m still looking for some first hand evidence of metal stitching inside an engine. The stitching website propaganda looks impressive.
vee out the crack and use silver solder,it flows nice and can be used on cast iron and is also easy to file flat.then use gasket shellac on the head gaskets.
a company i worked for used a metalstitch dealer,he came out and fixed a caterpillar engine in a roadgrader.the crack was in the front of the head and in the water jacket,3 inches long.when i saw the crack i thought welding it was the only way to fix it.im glad it worked because i would have been elected to remove the head and fix it and it was 20 degrees outside and would have been no fun.that was five years ago and the machine is still in perfect working condition.
I'm not seeing anything that would indicate you've found the problem. Both of those cylinders have what appears to be an even carbon patern... Did you perform a compression test before tearing it down? Are you sure your head gasket [repair] wasn't the problem? How's about a leaking intake gasket? Is there coolant mixed in with the oil, or vise versa? What did the spark plugs look like? Valves and intake/exhaust runners? I'm not saying you dont have a cracked block, but based on what I'm seeing here [that tiny hairline crack that does not extend into the bore], I'm suspecting something else. Even tho it's O/T, it wouldn't hurt to know the make/model/engine because certain models are known for certain problems... Might help us narrow it down for you. As far as repairing the block, there's really no proper way to do it in the car. You'll warp the cylinder bore, and no matter how carefull you may be with a file, it's practically impossible to hand file the deck to get a good head gasket seal. The block would have to come out to do it properly, and a machine shop would have to be involved.
that's kind of what i was thinking too. are we missing something? (wouldn't be the first time for me!)
I agree that it doesnt appear to be in a bad position. I would drill and tap a plug at the end of the crack to prevent it from expanding, then v and fill with solder. Other options are to either braze or weld with special rod for cast iron.
........................... IF, you do this, or use ANY sealer.....................Take the heater core, out of the loop, ( re-route hoses), and drain the coolant fill after it's had time, to "do it's stuff"...............
It looks fixable going the MIG welding route. Vee out the cracks, but I'd go with drilling for a taper pin instead of threaded plugs. We used to use that method on marine engines, a bit more work though... hardest part is finding a tapered reamer. Bob
Looks to me like the threaded hole for that head bolt is not supported very well (just looks like a little tab barely attached to the block). The stresses caused by the tightening of that head bolt are simply going to cause it to crack again if it isn't repaired correctly. I can't help but wonder if that head was over-torqued at some point. I'd be looking for another complete engine myself (if it's out of a Sunfire you shouldn't have trouble finding an engine ... if it's out of a Ferrari Enzo you just might be SOL). Just to be clear ... I am NOT saying it can't be fixed ... I am saying I personally would not trust the repair or want to waste my time or money on it (oil change, head gasket, time, the worry of whether it is really "fixed").
If I remember correctly we used to buy Sodium Silicate to fix this kind of stuff. I had a engine that would actually have visual combustion coming out of the radiator. It had been overheated something feirce. We looped the heater core hoses and added a half gallon on the stuff and right before our eyes it quit leaking. My wife drove the car for a year after that and it never did it again. I was told this stuff is what they use to seal cardboard boxes on an assembly line ,It dries clear and hard as hell when exposed to air. Also after useing it ,the block and heads are not reuseable. Best of luck.
Looks to me like that area is pulled up some and sits high. Goes with the overtorqued head bolt theory. Drill relief hole at the ends of the cracks, machine the area down, torque to specs and offer the gods a prayer.
This sort of crack is fairly easy to repair. I have done this in the past using tapered "A" plugs and also metal stitching. The crack is far enough away from the fire ring to seal. I would suggest to deck the block after it is done. Here is the link to the metal stitch site http://www.locknstitch.com/Metal_Stitching.htm A
I have fixed a block by welding between two cylinders and grinding and rehoning the cylinders. It held up to 12 to 1 compression on a dirt mod. You will need special cast iron arc welding rod. It is expensive. I have also used it on exhaust and intake manifolds. 1. drill the end of the crack, "v" it out and weld. 2. Use a block sealer, READ the instructions as it is very explisive (sp)on how to use it ! *****3. ***** Get another block and transfer your parts as you are in COLD country. ***** (highly suggested on this thread)
Well I went to town on it last week drilled my holes, ground it out heated it up, welded it, ground it down. I had a little bit of a low spot on both sides so the body man in me said slap some good old JB weld on it. I waited a few days and filed it down nice and flat. checked it with a machinists rule.. good as anyone could get with out actually machining it. gooped some Indian Head gasket shellac on both sides of a new gasket and torqued her down. going to get the rest of it wrapped up and run some Irontite ceramic motor seal by Kwik-Way. Has anyone ever used this stuff? guy at the parts counter said he recommends it to anyone over anything and everyone gives it good reviews. keepin my fingers crossed!
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