coolant leak from the back of the head?

[kwiksilver]

Just put the motor back together on my 89 turbo lebaron and have discovered a coolant leak.
it appears to be coming from the lower exhaust manifold stud on the #1 cylinder. smells very strongly of coolant, runs on the manifold and burns off, which makes a nasty steam cloud.

do the exhaust manifold studs on this cylinder go into a coolant port?
maybe the head is cracked?

[Mario]

Pretty common. You can put some loctite sealant on the studs when you re-install them (I can't remember what specific type of loctite sealant it was, but it worked good), or teflon tape.

[kwiksilver]

NOW you tell me, after the motor is back in the car !!!

wasnt aware I was supposed to seal the exhaust studs, I did use anit-seize on them.
wonder if it will stop leaking by itself or do I have to pull the head to seal them?

[1FastCSX289]

If you cant get at the specific stud, you'll have to pull the head. I doubt it will seal itself. I feel your pain. I usually use ultra copper permatex on the exhaust studs.....i hit all of them b/c I can never remember which ones go into water jackets.

[bradp]

Are you sure the head gasket is not leaking? That is the typical area for it to leak too.

[pauly_no_van]

hi

u can get that stud out with a 1/4" ratchet+uv joint + 10mm short socket + patience without taking anything else off the motor.
Done it twice. I used black RTV this last time.

[4 l-bodies]

If you cant get at the specific stud, you'll have to pull the head. I doubt it will seal itself. I feel your pain. I usually use ultra copper permatex on the exhaust studs.....i hit all of them b/c I can never remember which ones go into water jackets.

On 8v heads it's the bottom four studs that penetrate the coolant jacket. four of the intake penetrate the head bolt holes, this isn't a problem leaking wise, but you need to be sure not to run too long of bolt otherwise you can bottom out into the head stud/bolt. Some GM/Saturn motors (1.9 SOHC for sure) uses the same diameter and pitch stud and they also have a nice tork head on them so you can tighten them without using a jamb nut. I'll bet you could find them at an auto parts store. I use them all the time.
Todd

[ssheen]

Todd, what do you use on the studs?

[4 l-bodies]

Todd, what do you use on the studs?

I just use permatex Ultra black RTV on the water jacket studs and I use anti-seize on all the other studs and bolts. I've seen so many bolts broken off or stripped intake holes, that I don't want that happening.
Intake manifold bolt length on 1 and 2 piece is supposed to be 57mm x8X1.25.
Seen far too many people using to short of bolts and pulling out the threads on the intake holes. 55mm is not long enough, and 60 is too long. Buy 60's and trim them down a bit.
Todd

[slasky]

I had the same problem when I first built my engine. I did not use any sealer on the exhaust studs and one of them leaked.