Coolant leaking into engine!

[Soon2beBlown]

Well I recently installed a typoon upper and lower intake using 1250 intake gaskets. Fired it up and it leaked outside of the motor and inside the manifold/valley. Well today I went back, re did everything making sure the gaskets were set perfectly and tried it again...same problem. Even at idle white smoke comes out of the exhaust which is from coolant getting in the motor. Well I'm going to take another shot and try again....any idea where my problem is coming from? Any suggestions will be apprecciated. Also, which kind of gasket sealant works best?

 

[battyice]

Have you checked the coolant plate that is located directly after your throttle body? I am not sure what it is called...It is a plate that is bolted between your car's throttle body and the upper intake plenum, the rubber hoses connected to it should be easy to spot. If the plate is cracked or somehow leaking you could get coolant inside your engine and also on your lower intake.

good luck

 

[TheUser]

I think the "plate" you're talking about is the EGR spacer. I've heard other people say coolant could leak from there, but I don't understand why exactly coolant would be up there around your upper intake/throttle body and how does it get up there?

If you're having leaking problems, are you cleaning off your gasket surfaces good? I scrape all the junk off w/ a gasket scraper (gasket remover work helps sometimes). Then, I use sandpaper and sand off the surfaces and then I clean them w/ brake cleaner, and/or gasoline.

 

[green]

i think the coolant is there to cool off the throtle body and other near by parts, but i heard that it dosent matter if its hooked up or not

 

[OL' WHITEY]

Yeah, that's what it's for. I hear it does matter if you hook it up. I know I took the hoses off the spacer and put a piece of metal tubing between the two hoses under the throttle body on my old '86 back in '87 with no problems, but these days I hear that it can hurt performance rather than help. The last time I had the throttle body off my '93, I ditched the paper gasket and used sealant instead. It seems to be holding up pretty well after three months or so. I've really got my doubts as to whether this is really the source of your problems, however. It would seem to me like a leak in this area would get water/coolant directly onto your injectors and your plugs would foul out pretty quick. I don't know. We'll see what everybody else has to say.

 

[Michael Yount]

Did you use the proper torque and tightening pattern on the lower? How tight did you tighten the upper (torque value)? Have the heads been cut? Did you use a straight edge to check the manifold/head interface for flat/true?

 

[hllon4whls]

Is there a chance that it is just not warming up enough and you are seeing normal mist?

The typhoon intake has intake port alignment issues, possibly it has water port alignment issues as well?

 

[Schlodes]

Cork end gaskets.

Did you use them? I found that when trying to use them with my Edelbrock, and torqueing them to proper ft lbs, they'd squeeze out of the ends every time... [3 times ]

Called the shop I bought my heads form and he told me never to use them cork end gaskets and to used a good gasket sealer instead.. make you use brake clean on the surfaces and they have to be REAL clean... I think it was Permatex Ultra Black that I used... He told me the cork gaskets sometimes do not allow the intake to sit all the way down, onto the side gaskets in the intake ports and water ports, hence not getting a full seal, and you end up with what U got. Leaks.

 

[TheUser]

Cork end gaskets.

Did you use them? I found that when trying to use them with my Edelbrock, and torqueing them to proper ft lbs, they'd squeeze out of the ends every time... [3 times ]

Called the shop I bought my heads form and he told me never to use them cork end gaskets and to used a good gasket sealer instead.. make you use brake clean on the surfaces and they have to be REAL clean... I think it was Permatex Ultra Black that I used... He told me the cork gaskets sometimes do not allow the intake to sit all the way down, onto the side gaskets in the intake ports and water ports, hence not getting a full seal, and you end up with what U got. Leaks.

i had multiple leaks too...cork gaskets, permatex, it didn't matter. I got the intake gaskets w/ rubber end gaskets and no problems...i'd recommend getting the rubber end gaskets if you're having sealing problems from the ends

 

[Soon2beBlown]

Ok, I know its not the egr plate because I unhooked it and it still got into the upper intake. I used proper torque sequence and torqued them to 10, 20, 25. I also used the end corks, there were only two of them, is that all I was supposed to use(on in front and back). I know its warmed up enough because I actually drove it around the block and it ran like complete ass.

I think my problem is maybe the gasket sealant...I only used it around the corners, does this seem possible?

 

[battyice]

I think my problem is maybe the gasket sealant...I only used it around the corners, does this seem possible?

You need to use gasket sealant all the way around the coolant ports on your intake. If you are only using the sealant at the corners where the cork gasket meets the rest of the intake gasket I would say that's your problem.

 

[Michael Yount]

If things are lining up correctly/mating surfaces are true, flat and parallel - nothing other than the gasket should be needed to seal things. I've never used anything but a dab of rtv at the 4 corners where the manifold/block/head come together; no gasket sealant/dressing at all on the head/manifold gaskets, and a little bit of white grease on the rubber end seals so they slide into place and don't bind as the manifold is tightened. Never had even the slightest oil or coolant leaks.

Be sure to keep changing your oil after the leaks - according to many others' posts, it doesn't take much coolant in the oil pan and the engine doesn't have to run very long with that coolant/oil mix to potentially cause bearing problems.

 

[Michael Yount]

I'd try Schlode's advice - try it again with either the rubber end pieces or with a bead of rtv sealing the ends. Perhaps the cork end seals are not compressing like they should or the manufacture of the lower is a bit off (Typhoon have known quality issues) such that the ends are being held up too high and that's not allowing the rest of the manifold to seat correctly against the heads.

Have the heads or block been cut? Did you check the manifold/head mating surface for true before installing? Did you get all the old gasket material off the heads?

 

[Soon2beBlown]

the motor is original and hasen't been touched before I got it, I made sure the surfaces were very very smooth, I scraped them with a razor blade then used and electric sander to make it perfect. I am going to go ahead and try appyling an even thing layer of gasket sealer over the whole gasket area and see what happens...

 

[rd]

Suggestions: Dry fit the lower intake and see if the surfaces are parallel.

If so, then perhaps try again. I have done both the rtv end seals and the cork and the rubber. Currently, I use the cork ones, and glue them in place with yellow Hi Tack gasket adhesive. Should work no prob. Then use a small bead of rtv at the ends of the cork. Then put the gasket on. But the end seals should not cause any coolant leaks, most just let oil out allover the back of the engine. (Been there, done this one)

I use a couple long studs, (cut off threaded rod) to guide the intake down so that it does not have a chance to bump the gasket out of place.

You could try some rtv around the water ports one time. Both Felpros and Victors have sealed for me without it.

I would not use any kind of sander on the gaskets, especially the intake. You could use a wire wheel or 3m scotchbrite disk sparingly, but I would not use sandpaper. If the intake needs surfacing, take it to a machine shop.

Check carefully around the path from the coolant passages to the intake runners when you take it off, maybe after putting some tracer dye in the coolant if you can. My guess is the intake is not parallel to the head surface.

 

[5spd GT]

When I installed my 1250 intake gasket (the mating surfaces were clean because they were new heads)...so make sure you clean your intake/head mounting surface area very well...take your time...

I put a couple little dabs of silicone on the bottom of the intake and aligned my gasket up where the ports matched and trimmed accordingly (part of the coolant gasket passages needed to be)...and the silicone dried so it wouldn't move when I lowered the lower intake on it...I just looked through the intake holes and dropped onto the holes in the heads for the intake bolts...

When I first tried to do the lower intake I used the cork end gaskets and silicone and found out later (had to do it all over again ) because when I tightened the intake down it "squirted" the cork gasket out...so I just used a THICK bead of silicone and let it "cure" for about 10 minutes and set the intake on...let it sit overnight and torqued the intake down properly and have no coolant or vaccum leaks...

Since it appears you got coolant in your oil...change your oil...you don't need to drive with lots of coolant in your engine...

Good Luck

 

[Michael Yount]

Electric sander????? Is it possible you removed too much material?

 

[5spd GT]

Surely he didn't take off enough material on the iron heads ...that wouldn't be good...but I doubt it...

 

[Soon2beBlown]

I'm sure I didn't remove too much, I only had the sander on there about 10 seconds to get all the old gasket remaims off.

I think I found my problem....torque wrench, I think mine is waaaay off, I think I overtightened them. Anyways, I loosened up the lower bolts, squeezed the end corks back in and sealed it up again. I'm letting the sealant dry until the morning and I'll see how it goes