Slifter Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 I noticed steam the other day where it looks like coolant is leaking onto the exhaust manifold. The engine was completely rebuilt along with a new head gasket immediately before I bought it. It has not been run besides on and off trailers. I can't assume the head is not warped but I wanted to check with you guys before I start tearing the head off for no reason. Is there a "wet" head bolt on the drivers side that need to be sealed? I'm just hoping it wasn't torqued properly or perhaps the head gasket wasn't installed properly. Oh and it is showing typical hg failure, exhaust in the coolant system and oil in the coolant. Sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaquaro Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Doesn't sound good , can you contact the PO to find out if there is a warranty from the shop that did the rebuild ? :???: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slifter Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 He died... I'm fine with re-doing the head gasket, just finding the time to do it. Vaquaro I see u are in Delta I am across the pond in Nanaimo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain Dude Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Coolant sensor leaking? Before pulling the head to replace the gasket, check that the head bolts are torqued correctly. I once had a problem where it looked like the head gasket was leaking, it turned out to be a pin hole in the upper rad hose spraying a little jet of water onto the head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjeff87 Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 #11 head bolt (front-most one on the driverside of the head) passes thru a water jacket. It requires sealant on the threads, and has a lower torque value than the rest of the bolts. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 #11 head bolt (front-most one on the driverside of the head) passes thru a water jacket. It requires sealant on the threads, and has a lower torque value than the rest of the bolts. Jeff This is a 2.5. Only 10 head bolts. :D I don't know of a wet head bolt on the 2.5, but it does run coolant through the intake manifold. Maybe one of those hoses is leaking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaquaro Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 He died... I'm fine with re-doing the head gasket, just finding the time to do it. Vaquaro I see u are in Delta I am across the pond in Nanaimo. :wavey: Howdy neighbour , you did mention coolant contamination so I'm guessing the head gasket is the culprit . :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slifter Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 Finally got to work on my own junk today. Pulled the head. Any help here? The head gasket is in one piece but I'm wondering wtf is up with that dried up orange head bolt. I didnt snap a pic of it but under the gasket between C#2&3, there are two small holes in the head that are blocked off by the gasket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
54bobby Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 the reassemble proceedure consists of wrapping teflon plumbers tape around only the # 8 head bolt when reassembling. the orange might be that. as for the wholes :???: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airspeed Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 I had the same problem on my 2.5 head, there should be no wet exhaust/intake studs on the 2.5L. On my head the forward most hole was through the water jacket and it leaked. I tried tape, I tried sealant and I tried epoxy, nothing worked. I called the shop and they agreed the hole should be blind, they gave me a new head, problem solved. I'm not sure why you can't seal the stud coming out of the head, I tried everything to no avail. It must be a combination of heat and vibration of the exhaust port and header the makes it leak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slifter Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 the reassemble proceedure consists of wrapping teflon plumbers tape around only the # 8 head bolt when reassembling. the orange might be that. as for the wholes :???: Hi 54bobby, thanks that solves that mystery. Where can I find the reassembly instructions? I have a hayes but I don't think it goes into much detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slifter Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 I had the same problem on my 2.5 head, there should be no wet exhaust/intake studs on the 2.5L. On my head the forward most hole was through the water jacket and it leaked. I tried tape, I tried sealant and I tried epoxy, nothing worked. I called the shop and they agreed the hole should be blind, they gave me a new head, problem solved. I'm not sure why you can't seal the stud coming out of the head, I tried everything to no avail. It must be a combination of heat and vibration of the exhaust port and header the makes it leak. Well that's good it solved the problem in your case but I don't have spare money for a new head at the moment. We will see if anyone else chimes in before I decide how to proceed. It's strange that the shop said there should be no wet bolts yet I can see that there was some coolant visible between cyl#2&3. Also, seems strange that you have to use thread tape on the #8 bolt if they are indeed all blind bolts. Thanks for the help guys, this is the first head problem I have had in years and the first for this particular motor so I am a bit green. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airspeed Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Keep in mind I'm talking about the manifold bolts for the intake and exhaust. With the engine hot and idling I could see the water bubbling out around the manifold stud. On my head the most forward and aft holes for the manifolds were threaded studs. The good news, that head is easy to R & R. 2 - 3 hours if you take your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slifter Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 I just re-read your op, that makes sense now. Thanks. Yes it looks easy enough, pulling the head itself only took an hour and that was with my 2 year old helping. Keep in mind I'm talking about the manifold bolts for the intake and exhaust. With the engine hot and idling I could see the water bubbling out around the manifold stud. On my head the most forward and aft holes for the manifolds were threaded studs. The good news, that head is easy to R & R. 2 - 3 hours if you take your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slifter Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 Regarding the exhaust manifold bolts. Mine were all bolts no studs. The front bolt had a few washers on it I remember thinking, "That looks farmered". I didn't notice an external leak but perhaps the bolt was not in far enough or like you mentioned was not sealed properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
54bobby Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 section 2A-6 and 7 in haynes manual. the reassemble proceedure consists of wrapping teflon plumbers tape around only the # 8 head bolt when reassembling. the orange might be that. as for the wholes :???: Hi 54bobby, thanks that solves that mystery. Where can I find the reassembly instructions? I have a hayes but I don't think it goes into much detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slifter Posted April 13, 2013 Author Share Posted April 13, 2013 Everything went back together great. Once the head was off you could clearly see that both the front and rear exhaust stud holes were indeed wet bolts. I used teflon thread sealant.on all bolts anyways and replaced the old rusty fasteners with stainless. Used a composite gasket for later model comanches, and torqued according to the manual. Also tested and replaced the t-stat. Since the fan was missing when I bought it, I have installed an electric fan. I really need to get a temp guage hooked up to see what the temps are doing. It seems to be running on the hot side and now I realize I have no heat. I flushed the heater core, that's fine, checked the heater box controls they are working fine. I filled with water, bled the air and refilled 2x. Still no heat. The problem lies between the water pump and the heater core line. It is not plugged, so I suspect water pump. It is pulled now, just hoping to get a recommendation or what to avoid for a water pump, not sure if they are anything special. I may as well do it as it may be on its way out anyhow and its really easy to get at. Sorry for the long winded upate and thanks again for all the great help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slifter Posted April 17, 2013 Author Share Posted April 17, 2013 Done. It's all good now. Now just need a gas tank, rear bumper and get the rear lights working then it is ready for the 4x conversion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airspeed Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 Mark my words, they will start leaking. The shop took my head back in exchange, they agreed the holes must be blind. I put tape on my bolts but in about 1- 2k miles they started leaking. I tried special high temp silicone, J-B Weld and thread locker, nothing worked. When they sent me the new head with the blind holes the problem was solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
54bobby Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 what do u mean by (blind holes?) i need to pull my head to extract the broken ex mani studs so this thread has special interest to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airspeed Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 Blind means they have a bottom, they do not break into the water jacket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
54bobby Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 thanks man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slifter Posted April 17, 2013 Author Share Posted April 17, 2013 54bobby maybe it would be better to just leave it as is and deal with a leaky exhaust instead of a leaky exhaust with coolant pissing all over it lol. Airspeed that was very nice of your machine shop to do that for you, the shops in this town don't give a rats @$$ about the little guy trying to get his junk together - with all the broken down new ford diesels coming through their doors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
54bobby Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 54bobby maybe it would be better to just leave it as is and deal with a leaky exhaust instead of a leaky exhaust with coolant pissing all over it lol. Airspeed that was very nice of your machine shop to do that for you, the shops in this town don't give a rats @$$ about the little guy trying to get his junk together - with all the broken down new ford diesels coming through their doors. i don't understand what ur saying. it should be pretty straight forward. remove air filter, tb and linkage remove intake and exhaust mani as i think they share same mounting bolts. remove head. have broken bolts removed, head cleaned and new valve guids installed. put back together with proper tourque values in reverse manor. correct? what do you mean by (coolant pissing all over?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slifter Posted April 17, 2013 Author Share Posted April 17, 2013 54bobby maybe it would be better to just leave it as is and deal with a leaky exhaust instead of a leaky exhaust with coolant pissing all over it lol. Airspeed that was very nice of your machine shop to do that for you, the shops in this town don't give a rats @$$ about the little guy trying to get his junk together - with all the broken down new ford diesels coming through their doors. i don't understand what ur saying. it should be pretty straight forward. remove air filter, tb and linkage remove intake and exhaust mani as i think they share same mounting bolts. remove head. have broken bolts removed, head cleaned and new valve guids installed. put back together with proper tourque values in reverse manor. correct? what do you mean by (coolant pissing all over?) 54bobby if you have the wet intake/exhaust bolt holes in the head as both airspeed and I did, you will have difficulties sealing the stud when re-installing the exhaust/intake. When you have the head off check the holes (front most and rear most exhaust bolts), if they do go through the water jacket (wet) you may want to just replace the head for one with solid (blind) holes to avoid any leaking of coolant through those studs as they have a tendency to work loose over time. This is what airspeed did. I did not, and may regret it later on. It's all in the thread. It was a light-hearted comment half in jest I apologize for any confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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