I agree, sometimes you just HAVE to finish what your working on, Though its worse when your dealing with noxious fumes like the kind from paint and primer, lol. I'll wager hes sleeping though. What could possibly go wrong at this stage for mark anyway? ...O.o

Come on Mark, it's time for an update!

Maybe Chef fell into his engine bay and can't get out.

he is old....this is true

seriously, though... i hope everything with him is all right. the lack of chef-posts is eerie

yup....this is odd. anybody got his #....call him or send it to me and I will....hope all is well Mark...all joking aside

Hey guys, .... Thanks for all the "HEY, WHERE ARE YA?" posts! Sorry, I just couldn't respond last night, .................

I would have been back to report last night... but a couple things don't seem right and I was REALLY upset, ...so I just sat down and kept blood from shooting out from my eye balls, .....stopped a possible cranial aneurism.

It started right up, .... seems to idle pretty smooth, but very quickly I realized that the oil pan bolt is stripped(YEAH, NOT GOOD).. and that it was wanting to overheat at an idle. I got underneath, .... water leaking, from what seems to be the side of the block, downward, from the head????????? Can't be sure yet.... As I started it up a couple hours later, cold, I noticed no coolant leaking, but then again, that was while cold, ...and I never let it get TOO hot this time.

None of the normal culprits are leaking, like the wrap around water pipe that goes up into the intake, .... the connections of the two water pipes, short and longer into the back of the timing cover............ But, the upper radiator hose is getting REALLY hard and wont relax......... I drove it really slowly up the street and back, and when I stopped for a short time, it would overheat, and the second I feathered the pedal, it started to climb down a lil. By the time I pulled back in, that's when I saw the water leaking what seemed to be down the side of the block, behind the header and under the intake... that's what I thought HEAD GASKET didn't seat/head didn't seat on gasket.

The main thing about all that which really has me concerned?>>> TOO much steam from the tailpipe... NOT like when I blew a HG years ago, ....not QUITE, ...but still, way too much after running already for 20 minutes or so.

I might head out today and investigate, but I'm CLEARLY not going to make it to my nephews black belt tournament. Maybe I can fix whatever's wrong and make it to see my pops by fathers day.

PLEASE, ....EVERY idea is welcome.

Thanks, guys, ....

Mark

PS> I want to rule out the thermostat, as far as the heating up thing....and the radiator is almost NEW, ... but I can't see either causing BIZARRE LEAKS! Ahhhhhh, sorry, I'm just really frustrated.(Last night, it was more like "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!") lol.

thermostat in upside down?

Hey Brandon, ....

No, that's not possible, because I never removed the stat from the intake/stat housing when disassembling the motor. And, again, .... even if the stat was totally stuck, could it cause leaking of water down the sides of the block from what seems to be the head/block mating surface?(I WILL rule that in or out, today/whether or not it's leaking from there... but I can't think of anything else when it's coming from the top, down, from behind/under the header, under the intake, ya know?)

oh my.

run a quick compression test.

Yeah, Oh my, indeed, lol. I will probably do that, Jerry.... weird thing is, that I don't seem to see any mixing of oil and coolant in the oil... Just the dripping and steam. Also, last two compression testers I tried I could NOT get them to work(rentals). I want to borrow my neighbors Snap-on tester... it worked flawlessly. Both of the rentals would stop at 100 or so on the last motor, ..and I KNOW, regardless of all the drama, that thing was NO WAY at 100# of compression.

Either way, ..... I HAVE to solve this, ....and I'm a lil concerned that it's crap in the block in the coolant portion... and just want to be sure it's not the stat... but wouldn't even a plugged stat be unlikely to cause water to be leaking down the block on the sides?

Mark.....wish I could be an extra set of eyes for ya........my list of culprits would be the same list I just recently had for my own....and you saw how it was that I finally found the leak.....with the camera.

infrared thermometer may also show if you have some sort of blockage in the jacket.

likewise, take the thermostat out....run a garden hose through the housing and take off the bottom hose from the radiator an flush the G-D thing out for an hour.

Yeah, I'll do that while I have the housing off. Still.... Not sure how I would be steaming from the tailpipe in any case other than HG. Timing cover is new, ...and unless coolant is making it into the intake port through a leak there(which is NEARLY as bad news...and which I was VERY thorough on the sealing thereof).... I just am pretty concerned.

Off to get the stat out right now.......

Please keep any input you have coming, guys!

ok...

gotta start somewhere.

My only thought would be if it was the HG wouldn't it be more likely to loose water internally instead of outside the block. But the steam out the tail pipe don't sound good either.

pull the spark plugs and take a look..

sorry to hear the bad news..

take the t-stat out and check it for proper function.(put in boiling water) I know you're getting a new one (check the new one as well with boiling water) but do it any ways so you can figure problems out as opposed to throwing parts at it. Sounds like the intake manifold gasket is pinched/bad, you get the idea.

Yeah, I'm not sure on that. I know the water jackets are on the outside, 2 on each side of the cylinder holes.... and if it's compromised on the seating, isn't it possible to leak right down the side of the block on the outside of the HG?

Ok, and thanks, man, ....I'm sorry too.

I pulled the stat, and when cold, it is completely closed, unlike the old one I kept(it wasn't bad, just was 'time', ya know?)... That older OEM one looks clean on the top, and it's slightly opened, just sitting dry on the counter. The newer one that I just pulled out, it's fairly rusted on top and completely closed, and when I push down against the spring, ...it almost pops, like it doesn't wanna open, and then slams right shut again. If I'm not mistaken, it should be completely closed when cold, right?

closed when cold and when it reaches the specific temp it's rated for it will open. Take the old one and boil it in some water and do so with the new one as well to check proper function.