Tiny intake coolant leak, advice needed

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71DodgeDemon340 said:
Also on the gasket maker for the china walls it says to assemble hand tight wait a hour then torque. Is this really necessary.

Also on the intake bolts some are hard to get to with anything other than a wrench, how are you supposed to torque them?
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I have never torqued an intake manifold in my life. Nor will I ever. It’s a 3/8 bolt, there are 6 per side. Pull them tight with a wrench and send it.

BTW, that 3/8 bolt in grade 5 only needs 38-42 foot pounds of torque. A healthy 10 year old girl can pull that with a wrench. No disrespect to healthy 10 year old girls intended.

Also you need o go back over those bolts after a couple of heat cycles. They will loosen up.
 
71DodgeDemon340 said:
Should i put any thread sealant on the 4 bolts that are open to the valley?
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YES - depending on how much blow by you have and how effective your PCV system might be, it keeps oil from creeping up the threads and puddling in the little pockets next to the bolts. No real reason not to put sealant on all the intake bolts.
 
Just regular white thread sealant? Seems like number 2 kind of crusts up a little bit and some of the intake bolts you cant turn with a wrench when they come so far out. There was some kind of red sealant on them but it was still wet when i pulled them out, but they were able to be threaded out by hand once i broke them loose
 
I assume the red stuff was red Loctite, which isn't a sealant. As long as you don't overdo the amount you put on, you shouldn't have any trouble getting the bolts back out.
 
str12-340 said:
I assume the red stuff was red Loctite, which isn't a sealant. As long as you don't overdo the amount you put on, you shouldn't have any trouble getting the bolts back out.
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It was red on some parts but was pink where it dried, looked like thread sealant
 
Got the intake back on, put some #2 gasket sealant around the water jackets and then around the bolt holes to hold the gasket, put some more sealant on top of the gasket around the water jackets but left 1/4” up on the intake gasket where i could put rtv and also along the china walls, used thread sealant on all the bolts, hopefully no leaks, i used about 3/4 of a tube of the rtv. I didnt torque it but ive been over the bolts probably 7 or 8 times going in the recommended torque sequence, got them pretty snug, as comfortable as i wanna be. Still have to do the valve cover gaskets and some minor fitting to the radiator before i can fill it full of coolant


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Rat Bastid said:
I have never torqued an intake manifold in my life. Nor will I ever. It’s a 3/8 bolt, there are 6 per side. Pull them tight with a wrench and send it.

BTW, that 3/8 bolt in grade 5 only needs 38-42 foot pounds of torque. A healthy 10 year old girl can pull that with a wrench. No disrespect to healthy 10 year old girls intended.

Also you need o go back over those bolts after a couple of heat cycles. They will loosen up.
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Neither have I .
 
71DodgeDemon340 said:
Got the intake back on, put some #2 gasket sealant around the water jackets and then around the bolt holes to hold the gasket, put some more sealant on top of the gasket around the water jackets but left 1/4” up on the intake gasket where i could put rtv and also along the china walls, used thread sealant on all the bolts, hopefully no leaks, i used about 3/4 of a tube of the rtv. I didnt torque it but ive been over the bolts probably 7 or 8 times going in the recommended torque sequence, got them pretty snug, as comfortable as i wanna be. Still have to do the valve cover gaskets and some minor fitting to the radiator before i can fill it full of coolant


View attachment 1715886707
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Nice job. You do some neat work.
 
RTV sealants take 24 hours to fully cure. Let it sit that long before adding coolant/water to engine and firing it up.
 
Its going to sit that long anyway, gotta do the valve cover gaskets tomorrow, also have to do final fitment on the new radiator before i add coolant. I used permatex ultra grey, when i use it on diff covers i usually fill it up right after assembly and never had one leak. I just want to make sure it cures, temp in the garage is about 60 degrees so should set up pretty good before the temps drop tonight, calling for 2-4 inches of snow in the morning
 
That sure is a purdy engine compartment. I'm thinking you got the leak solved. Sealant around the coolant passages on the head and intake is a good call.
 
I always use the intake gaskets with the rubber sealing "ring" (Fel-Pro PrintoSeal??) around all of the ports and add a thin layer of gray RTV around the coolant passage ports for good measure. Never had a coolant leak, however I do have a persistent oil leak coming from that same area down in the corner where the head, block and intake meet. Next time I have the intake off I'll have to just glob the hell out of it in that corner, already tried fixing it once and it didn't work. Might also not have put a tall enough bead of RTV across the front block rail.

I also need to try some Right Stuff, buddy of mine works at a hot rod shop and he swears by it, says normal RTV is junk in comparison lol.
 
MopaR&D said:
I always use the intake gaskets with the rubber sealing "ring" (Fel-Pro PrintoSeal??) around all of the ports and add a thin layer of gray RTV around the coolant passage ports for good measure. Never had a coolant leak, however I do have a persistent oil leak coming from that same area down in the corner where the head, block and intake meet. Next time I have the intake off I'll have to just glob the hell out of it in that corner, already tried fixing it once and it didn't work. Might also not have put a tall enough bead of RTV across the front block rail.

I also need to try some Right Stuff, buddy of mine works at a hot rod shop and he swears by it, says normal RTV is junk in comparison lol.
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Right stuff is the real deal. It’s all I use anymore on the china rails. Just don’t plan on an easy disassembly.
 
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