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By 56 effie - 17 Years Ago
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I have had an intermittent waterleak towards the rear of the engine for a while now and decided to do something about it before the up and coming warmer cruising season.I had replaced the freeze plugs, 2 on either side of the block a while back and could find no more. The water seemed to be leaking from the back of the block out of the clutch dust cover. After inspecting a spare engine i found a plug at the back behind the flywheel. So out came the gearbox, clutch & off came the flywheel. To my surprise the plug was in good condition but as the thing was in pieces i decided to replace it anyway. Upon returning from the local auto shop with said part in hand i started to remove the old one. To my SURPRISE oil came out on the plug. On further inspection i found it to be the plug at the back end of the camshaft, bugger. I had considerd posting the question of the water leak prior to commencing the repair but decided it was a bit silly. HAH how wrong was i.I suppose the moral of this story is that there is no such thing as a DUMB question At least i know my clutch plate is in goon condition
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By Moz - 17 Years Ago
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but did you find the water leak in the end.
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By Tom Compton - 17 Years Ago
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WOW! "Up coming warmer cruising season" indeed! Took me 2 seconds to look and see that you are in the Southern Hemisphere. Supposed to be 103* F (39-40*C) today and hotter tomorrow in this part of Texas. We're looking forward to the upcoming cooler crusing season. TC
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By aussiebill - 17 Years Ago
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Effie, Sure sounds like rushing in blind! have you checked possible sorces of water leak, maybe freeze plugs at rear of heads if early heads, or the small welch plug at rear of intake surface near distributor, or leaking thermostat housing gaset or hose dribbling down and running back along valley pan? Did you actualy find the leak as moz asked? we are all curious. aussiebill.
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By MoonShadow - 17 Years Ago
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Another question. Is the vehicle actually losing radiator water or just making puddles occasionaly? The valley pan is a great place for water to collect and the run off if parked on an angle. Also, aren't there a couple of freeze plugs on the back of the block near the cam plug? Chuck in NH
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 17 Years Ago
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Moonshadow: There are no water jacket freeze plugs in the back of a Y Block. You must be thinking about some "mystery" motor. I once worked on a guy's '61 scrub 348 who had taken the car to a couple other places to work on a water leak. He told me to pull the engine if necessary, but FIX THE LEAK. It was a freeze plug behind the flywheel, and he got upset when he got the bill for pulling the trans to fix the water leak. Guess he forgot about his original statement, it cost him less for me to pull the trans than the engine. John in Selma, IN
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By 56 effie - 17 Years Ago
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Hi Moz, have not put the thing back together yet, have to go down the back shed and turn up a clutch aligning tool. I did check all the usual things first, temp sender, the freeze plugs on the sides and did a thorough search for any other suspects.When none were found "out came the box". It is defenitely coolant as it is leaving a residue when it evaporates. I will pull the temp sender and check it while the coolant is out. Dont think it is the inlet manifold as there is a lip around the valley cover that would catch any fluid.
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By MoonShadow - 17 Years Ago
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John, Just wasn't my day for giving advice! So whats new? I missed the one piece Ford O Matic reference too. Chuck in NH See you soon! New motor sounds good. I'm having the tranny tunned up now.
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 17 Years Ago
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Chuck: Wasn't trying to make you look bad, just wanting to keep someone else from taking the trans out to find there are no freeze plugs there. Looking forward to seeing your new combo run at Columbus. I have deemed my car ready, but I wanted to fix a little rust hole in the left door of the hauler. Then I realized how bad the paint was looking, etc, etc. So now the door is off and repaired, stripped, the hood off and stripped, about 2/3 of the cab is stripped, trim is off, etc. I may have to haul the car with the truck in primer or painted and not buffed. Oh wait, I still have three weeks. No problem????? John in Selma, IN
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By Ted - 17 Years Ago
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The earlier model Y heads did not have ‘blind’ threaded holes for the four studs holding the intake manifold down which means coolant can leak from these particular threaded holes. If sealer is not put on the threads before installing the studs, then some coolant weepage can occur at this spot and it will run down alongside the valley cover and leak at the back of the engine. This particular leak is typically hard to find because it's such a small leak to begin with and typically shows up as a puddle under the vehicle at the back of the engine. Sometimes looks more like a head gasket leaking than what it really is.
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By PWH42 - 17 Years Ago
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Ted,I owe you a great big Thank You.I have owned about 50 Y-Blocks over the years and I never had one leak around those studs.I've been chasing a very slight coolant leak since I installed the present engine in my car.After reading your post,I checked and sure enough,that's the culprit.
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By 56 effie - 17 Years Ago
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Well I eventually got around to removing the inlet manifold and sure enough there was no sealer on the front studs, I was also finding the valley cover to be wet. Took it for a couple of good runs and as yet there is no water on the garage floor so it looks like that was the problem.
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By 56 effie - 17 Years Ago
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Well the leak is back and has taken quite some time to find. It only leaks when cold and may not show signs for 3 or 4 days. I had to pressurise the cooling system and found that I have a porous block. It is coming thru just behind the oil filter below the oil pressure transducer. Looks like I am up for a new engine. The block I have in the shed is 60thou over and in very poor condition (rusty bores). It looks like it will be ok for the cruising season and I will have to look out for a replacement but the prices of rebuilders is making me think a 351 windsor would be best.
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 17 Years Ago
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'56: Here in the states we have available "K&W Block Sealer". Very good product, use according to their instructions, and it will seal your porous block. As a teenager, I put some in a 6 cylinder chev that had frozen and cracked the block the full length. Water ran out in a stream the size of a pencil. Put the block sealer in and ran the engine, adding water as needed to keep it from overheating. The stream slowly reduced in size until it quit leaking, and the side of the block dried off. Never leaked a drop afterward. Maybe you can get it or a similar product in your area. They claim it will stop leaks into the combustion chamber from a cracked head also. John in Selma, IN
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By mctim64 - 17 Years Ago
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56 effie (10/31/2008)
Well the leak is back and has taken quite some time to find. It only leaks when cold and may not show signs for 3 or 4 days. I had to pressurise the cooling system and found that I have a porous block. It is coming thru just behind the oil filter below the oil pressure transducer. Looks like I am up for a new engine. The block I have in the shed is 60thou over and in very poor condition (rusty bores). It looks like it will be ok for the cruising season and I will have to look out for a replacement but the prices of rebuilders is making me think a 351 windsor would be best.Don't throw out the other block just "cause it's .060" over, you should be able to find +.080" for a 292 ,or you can use 312 pistons +.030" = +.080" 292 (312s have the same pin hight as 292s) most 292 blocks can easily go 3.880" and then some. Might be a good idea to check the thickness of the cylinders though.  Although the Windsor is a Ford, it would be nice to see you keep the "Y"
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By 56 effie - 17 Years Ago
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The next step is to search for a sealer and it appears that the leak is small enough to keep cruising so thats the good side. The next question is to go a pour in the wet side or stick it to the outside.
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By 56 effie - 17 Years Ago
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I have just been down to the local auto shop an picked up a product called CarGo metallic seal up. Have to drain & flush the system add the magic potion and run it at temp for half hour or until leak stops.Not sure how it will go as it leaks only when cold, however it could be evaporating when hot. About to go and give it a go.
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 17 Years Ago
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'56: That's exactly the procedure for the K&W sealer we have. Works magic, but won't work with anti-freeze. That's why you flush. After it cures, anti-freeze won't affect it. John in Selma, IN
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By LON - 17 Years Ago
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56 effie , Another product is Chemi-weld . It will seal just about any size hole .A few years ago when I was driving company trucks ,a big hole appeared in the side of a Cummins diesel I was driving . Took it to the workshop ,added 2 bottles of Chemi-weld and ran it at full throttle for about 30 minutes ,no more leaks . Regards Lon
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By 56 effie - 17 Years Ago
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LON, do you get that anywhere in particular. The last stuff I tried did not work. Spoke to the people who distribute it in Sydney and they said leave it in longer.
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By 56 effie - 17 Years Ago
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The stuff I used to seal the block has worked . I did not have time to re do the sealing process prior to heading off on a rod run last weekend. As the leak was small I was not too concerned about water loss but took some with me just in case. Anyway the round trip was approxomately 650k and there is no sign of any coolant on the garage floor after 5 days. This stuff must have been doing its thing in the crack after it was flushed out.
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