How do I fix this major problem I have now, block cracked at cylinder head bolt hole

gatorman21218

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I would run it... I agree there is no coolant in that area. Even if it leaks you can run it while you save up for another block. You have alot of time invested now. Get the truck back on the road and see what happens. Junking the block without knowing if it leaks would be poor advice. There are several types of metal repair epoxy products out there that could be used to slow down or stop the possible leak before install of the engine. This would buy you some time to make another block ready for rebuild if you needed one.

I have a 14.5 briggs that threw a rod. Made a nice dent in the block as well as cracked it. I used JB weld to fix that. But that was a "free" lawn mower...
 

typ4

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You will do more damage welding it, now the 64 dollar question, is the insert as deep as the original threads or not, I assume it is or you would have one long stud.
I say run it.
Brazing or welding will kill the heat treat of the insert, stud and warp the deck.

I agree with drilling a TINY hole at the crack end.
And keep an eye out for another block, that one was made in the murphy factory and should have ended up in nebraska.:rotflmao
Sorry Sean, couldnt help it.:angel:
 

cheap bronco

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the insert i installed was 1.25 and the original threads were 1.5 inches longs, so the stud had enough bite on the insert. I also thought of someone tig welding the crack since the heat is localized to just the area where you are working. I dont really know until tomorrow when I get a chance to go to some welding shops that hopefully know what they are doing.
 

icanfixall

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Welding it... Nope.. Not even with Cronatron cast iron rod. To properly weld cast iron you preheat it. And then post heat it. In simple terms heat it up to a temp. Then weld it. Then keep it in a controlled heating chamber as it cools down by dropping the heat about 100 degrees per hour. As much as you want to just weld it by mig ot tig without heat is never going to make a good repair and most certainly it will ruin what you have now. There are very few true welders around that can sucessfully weld cast iron. Cronatron rod is kinda neet but its not something to live by. Brazing it will never work either. Now if you find someone that tells you ..."Sure I can weld that for you"... They want your business and you will never know if it was ok without welding. Do this please... Seal up the cooling side of the engine but make a place to add pressure to the cooling system. Pressureize the cooling system to around 14 or 15 lbs. Why only that much.. Because of the freeze plugs. They are not designed for much higher pressure so why push it. Put some soapy water on the crack. If you see tiny little bubbles you have a very tiny crack into the cooling side. If it blows the soapy water away from the crack the block is not going to hold water or coolant. All you need to fab up is rubber caps for the coolant in and out of the block. Take the radiator hose fittings to home depot and get some rubber end caps with the clamps on them. Put a shrader valve in one of them and your set. The other rubber cap needs a pressure gauge in it. Or get a pressure gauge that will work off the shrader valve like what we use on a bike tire setup...
 

Knuckledragger

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Don't bother to have it welded or brazed. Neither will help the condition, just cover it up. This (crack) can happen to cast iron when drilling a hole near a thin wall. the drill exerts lots of side pressure, even though you are cutting on the bottom. The result is a crack.

If you are a nervous Nellie, throw the block away. If you are any kind of risk taker, run it as is.

The helicoil threads are stronger than the parent metal (presuming they are cleanly installed), and there is no movement at the joint once the head is installed. It will be fine if you are willing to try it.
 
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typ4

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WHat he said^^^^^ its in alow stress area.
 

1994Diesel

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I have a spare stripped 7.3 block which i picked up for free from another local member awhile back. I would be willing to pass it on. Its just sitting under a tarp in my back yard, but I am all the way out here in Cali.
 

rjjp

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the insert i installed was 1.25 and the original threads were 1.5 inches longs, so the stud had enough bite on the insert. I also thought of someone tig welding the crack since the heat is localized to just the area where you are working. I dont really know until tomorrow when I get a chance to go to some welding shops that hopefully know what they are doing.

If you have it tig welded, it will crack right next to the weld. Unless they heat treat it afterwords, plus you would have to completely disassemble it.
 

George D.

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Honestly if it were mine I would drill stop holes at the end then spacle it with JB weld. I've done some impressive stuf with JB in the past like repair a damaged crank snout a couple days befor diving halway across the country for school and it was still fine 40,000 miles later when the dealer begged me to trade it in on my truck.
 

rhkcommander

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if you do drill stop holes, that could allow you to see how deep the crack goes. either way I'd run it and not worry about it. If it somehow isn't deep I wouldn't even bother patching it. Either way I doubt it would do anything to you.

I found a 4" long stack of welds where the freeze plug goes - was leaking coolant but some stop leak has it slowed up enough to run. If it was that bad I'd suggest starting fresh :rotflmao
 

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