coolant leaking out exhuast manifold

[alaskan155]

well was working on my bronco II today, and was adding coolant to the radiator, and it started leaking out the exhaust manifold, i replaced all the top end gaskets,

its leaking out of the passenger side manifold, do any of you got any ideas

also do remember before i installed the radiator, a started for a few seconds (nothin long because of no coolant), that some exhaust smoke came out of the water pump outlet , but thought nothing of it, but i got a feeling the 2 are related,

thanks

 

[crazy8ranger]

mite be time for sum new heads, from what i can gather u have a crack in the water jacket of the head, if you dont have a coolant pressure tester go rent one from auto-craper and pump up ur sys, and that will tell u were to go from there if it doesnet hold pressure, but most likley u have a cracked head.

 

[wade]

Crazy8's right. Crack or gasket problem. You need a cooling system pressure tester. Is it in the oil, yet?

 

[alaskan155]

probally is in the oil, ended up filling a cyclinder up with coolant, so i guess i could have leaked down into the oilpan, got to wait till saterday to tear it down again, thought i was close, but if i can go wrong it will with the way my luck is working with this project


if the heads are cracked, what kind of gains could be had swaping a set of gt40 or gt40p, from a ford exploere(saw a v8 one last time i was at the pick it pull)
i know E7 need to be milled down to work on a 289, but what other factory heads have a small combusion chamber, to keep the compression up on a 289

 

[desertrunner]

if it wasnt leaking before you changed the top end gaskets then i seriously doubt you cracked a head.

im assuming that you replaced the head gaskets as part of the top end?

if your intake gaskets moved, didnt seal properly, tore, melted, over torqued them, etc. your coolant could be going straight from the coolant passage into the intake passage or lifter valley and it will follow the same path as the oil and run straight into the bottom end. if it goes into your intake passage then obviously that would explain how you filled up a cylinder with coolant and that it was leaking out the exhaust. if you would have ran it much longer you were sure to have destroyed a rod as water/coolant doesnt compress

i just put a stroker in a fox body, well wonderful me got into a hurry and didnt put the baffle on the lower intake for the pcv. first time i started her up she was burning so much oil i couldnt breath in the garage with both bay doors open and the exhaust pointed out. well after a little trouble shooting i found i forgot to install the baffle and since the baffle wasnt on and there was so much vacumn the pcv valve was sucking oil straight from the lifter valley and burning it. anyhow thats besides the point, because of this i had to pull my lower intake to install the baffle, well again wonderful me i got into a hurry again when i installed the lower intake and now on top of having a vacumn leak i now am burning coolant, gotta love it.

i recently read about a trick to keep your intake gaskets in position. if you have any old intake bolts that you dont need or even bolts that have the same threads then cut the heads of the bolts off and use them as guide studs. take 3 or 4 of them and place them into the heads where the intake bolts in, install the intake gaskets and the studs will keep them into position as well as act as a perfect guide for lowering down the intake so that the front and rear valley cork gaskets, bead of sealant, rubber gaskets, whatever you perfer are not knocked out of position and form a vacumn leak. then once the intake is where it needs to be throw a few of the actual bolts that you are gonna use on it to retain it in that position and then unscrew your giude studs.

 

[desertrunner]

after reading this thread earlier i decided it was time for me to stop being lazy and go look at mine, heres a few pics of what i think has prolly happened to yours as well. my theory on mine is i over torqued the bolts and she didnt seal, the reason i think that is my cork gaskets are afu. i removed the distributor and there was water droplets on it, i then checked the oil, its about a full inch over full, point in case that the water will go straight down into the oil pan

 

[wade]

Guide studs - old trick - works great - cut the heads off and slot them with a hacksaw in case they get tight. Throw away the cork gaskets and use a thick bead of High Temp RTV.

Guide Studs and RTV - that's the ticket.

Torque Values are one of the "Thou Shalt's", listed in the 10 Commandments somewhere!

 

[alaskan155]

interesting, didnt use the guides when i installed the intake, and i have some spare intake bolts from a 302 i can chop down, an as far as the gaskets, they are the cork gasket, and yes i replaced the head gasktet.

i was also looking at my gasket set i bought for the 289, and it came with 2 intake gasket(4 total, 2 for each side), do i put them both in, or just one, that confused me a little because my 302 set i bought a while back came with 1 intake gasket per side, and rubber end pieces.

thanks, just some curiosity there, so when i pull the manifold off, some high temp black RTV sealant on the ends, and some guide bolts for the intake should get me going sealed up right

thankyou for your time, ill try fixing the intake before i pull the heads off and see if it seals it up.(head gaskets are new torqued to spec)

 

[wade]

i was also looking at my gasket set i bought for the 289, and it came with 2 intake gasket(4 total, 2 for each side), do i put them both in, or just one, that confused me a little because my 302 set i bought a while back came with 1 intake gasket per side, and rubber end pieces.
thanks, just some curiosity there, so when i pull the manifold off, some high temp black RTV sealant on the ends, and some guide bolts for the intake should get me going sealed up right

My inclination is to tell you to only use 1 intake gasket per side. Test fit 'em - see which one fits your ports best - including the water passages. If memory serves me correctly, I once purchased a Head Set that doubled up the Intake Gaskets, too. I don't think they were cut quite the same. The only reason I could rationalize using both is to make up for having the heads shaved/milled. But, still sounds like a built in potential leak. I'm hoping someone else out there will "sound off" on this.
A 3/8" bead of High Temp RTV should seal fine. Make certain you tie the RTV beads into the Intake Gaskets. The Guide Studs will only allow the manifold to go straight down. You wouldn't want to "roll" the manifold (backward/forward) on the RTV beads.

 

[alaskan155]

just got done tearing the intake manifold off, it was sealed good, the 2 gaskets did in deed have 2 different coolant port designs(i had the right one on),

the verdict, cylinder 3 was full of coolant, and the center cooling port in the passenger side head dumps right into the exhaust, the heads are toast

so options:
1. buy used/new set off heads(know were a set of gt40(P) are if there still there)(problem is going to be the combustion chamber size)
2. save my $$$$ and buy a rebuild 302 motor from the parts house(paid 250 for 289, can use it as a core)
3. maybe save my money, scratch the 289, 302, and drop a 351w(which my harmonic balancer and flexplate work on since they 28oz balance), or 351c.
351w i would just need a oilpan, duraspark distributor, and intake, and alernator bracket off f150

with 2 and 3, my dad gave me the idea to start on the suspinsion, and work my way up to the engine, so thats an option right know 2

 

[Pt_Ranger_V8]

go 351 :icon_thumby:

 

[alaskan155]

update: figured id give the motor a second chance
just got done redoing all the gaskets,
used guide pins from my 1 piece oil pan gasket to install intake.
fixed: rear of engine leaking, new rear man, rtv between to rear mains and 1 piece reuseable oil pan gasket.

filled block up with water tonight and she didnt leak into the exhuast or oil pan, so think i have the problem fixed, think cause i was not using torque wrench installing intake or allignment pins, which somehow cause coolant to flow direct into the exhaust heating port for the intake heat, so the intake is properly torqued know.

will be cleaning/painting the motor in the next 2 days old ford blue, and reinstalling(hopefully for the last time) on friday.