On 1985 and earlier 13B's The coolant O-Ring groove is located on the aluminiums.

On 1986 and later, the groove is on the irons.

I've heard that one wall of the groove on the irons is prone to cracking, and that the aluminium walls are a little more flexible and therefore don't crack.

Has this happened to anyone? Is it a frequent problem? What causes it?

Reason for crossposting:
Trying to see if the problem of water jacket cracks on S3 and earlier housings.

I don't intend to overheat the engine, but in reality, hoses do blow out and radiator end tanks do break open at times. I'd like it to take some abuse.

 

What exactly are you trying to do be alittle more specific, I cant give you advice unless I know more about your application.

 

You know the answer,,, it's alloy mated to iron no matter where the o-ring groove is.
and late model engines HAVE been engineered with alot more knowledge in metal-ergy. iron is still iron but the alloy's are getting much, much better. almost, border line composites not to mention the material the o-rings are made out of too.

 

The problem I've seen on the 86+ coolant seals in the irons, is the casting. The lip on the outboard side of the seal tends to be too thin in some places and breaks, cracks, corrodes. This, to me, leads to more coolant failures than when the grooves were in the housings.

 

don't have a definitive answer, but from all that i've read thus far, it's a lot more prevalent in the Gen II 13B engines. in fact, i've never heard of any real issues with the earlier engines in terms of the water seals.

 

ditto,

never saw nor heard of any problems with any of the 85 and prior(cept when overheated to much) but I have heard of this problem a lot in regards to the FC's and FYI there are certain types of coolant that seem to agrivate the problem.

kenn

 

Right... I blew a hole in the top end tank of my radiator (Where the spot weld is that holds the bracket for the fan shroud) and lost some coolant, overheating my engine. I had it pretty hot for a while until I found something that'd thread into the hole and some water to get me home.

No adverse effects.

I'm trying to see which would be the better housings to use, provided flaking and wear are about the same if I have S3, S4, and S5 housings available to me.

S3 and S4's have teh spark plug locations in the same place IIRC. S5's have the spark plugs a few degrees moved in some direction.

I'm already settled on S5 N/A rotors. High compression, lighter weight, and machined for better clearance.