Hey guys, after swapping my heads out for some LE heads I have a coolant leak from somewhere on the back of the engine. I was going to take the car for a test drive, and while backing up, I noticed a trail of coolant on the driveway. So I just parked it back in the garage.

Where can the coolant be coming from? I checked the coolant pipe bolts on the heads, and they're dry. When I removed the coolant pipe bolts, I just let the coolant spill all over the place, could it be residual water that was sitting somewhere on the engine/chassis? Where else can I check for leaking coolant? Could I have done something wrong with the head swap?

 

which head gaskets did you use?
by coolant pipe , i take it you mean the crossover pipe in the back of the heads?
did you put new gaskets on the coolant crossover pipe or just reuse the factory ones? (the metal washers with the rubber diaphragm)
what sealant did you use on your head bolt/ studs?

 

I used the Mr. Gasket 5716 head gaskets. When I said coolant pipe I mean the crossover pipe, it's a new pipe but I lost one of the bolts and one seal so I reused one bolt and one seal the rest is new. For the sealant I used the Loctite 37615 http://store.summitracing.com/partde...0&autoview=sku

 

Check the Cross-over pipe first, reusing the washer/seal could be the problem. Also, one of the welds on the cross-over pipe, or the pipe its self could be fractured. Did you use head-bolts, or studs?

WD

 

did you use sealant on the heads

 

Ahh okay, I didn't think of the welds going bad. I used head bolts.

No sealant on the heads.

 

when you installed the cross over pipe did you use 2 rubber and steel washers per banjo bolt? You know, 1 between the head and the crossover and 1 between the crossover and bolt head

 

 

I think he meant thread sealant on the head bolts.

 

find the leak yet?

 

Yeah I used 2 seals per bolt. I bought a new pipe from GM with new seals and bolts, but I lost 1 seal and 1 bolt. So I re-used 1 old seal and 1 old bolt, but still 2 seals per bolt.

Not yet. I haven't looked for it yet. I'll look later today and update on my find.

 

there is a possibilaty that the banjo bolt is bottoming out against the water jacket in the head befor it seals. I had this problem with the afr heads. The other possibilaty is that the banjo bolt went in cross threaded. I have reused those washers with out a problem along with the banjo bolts.

 

When I noticed the water leaking I tried putting my hand around the bolts and I didn't notice any water. I just couldn't get to the passenger side because it was too hot.

But I should also add, that there was no water leaking when it was idle. It was only leaking when I drove out of the driveway and I seen the trail.

 

Put a cooling system pressure tester on it(Autozone to rent...). If it's got a leak, you will find it fast once you pressurize the system.

 

Not to hijack, but do you put on head gaskets dry or use RTV etc?