It really is too bad a rebuild costs so much for these engines, I think 900 is about the cheapest you can get if you do it yourself and use all the old housings. Too bad there arent as many 13bs as small block chevys, then it would cost about $75!

 

dang

 

IT's like being a kindergarten teacher, you have to do everything for them...

Coolant Seal Fix (Temporary)

DISCLAIMER: "I am not the author of the writeup or developer or the procedure. I believe the original post may have been made by Paul Yaw of Yawpower, but I am not sure. I am only posting the information to be of help to other people, and take no credit for it. I have not personally tried it, and do not know if it will work for your individual application, but I know of people who have had some success with it."

If you're interested in what is to be considered a temporary fix, read on.

The recipe: two cans of Block Weld and some Purple Power degreaser from Pep Boys. The Block Weld is a clear liquid with copper granules blended in.
The process takes *hours* but can be very worthwhile!

Step 1: Clean the heck out of the cooling system - drain the radiator, fill with water and degreaser, run the motor until warm.

Step 2: Repeat 5 or 6 more times.

Step 3: Drain the radiator, fill with water only and run the motor until warm.

Step 4: Repeat 2 or 3 times. You must rinse the system with water until no degreaser is left inside, this is *very* important.

Step 5: When you are sure that the cooling system is very clean inside, refill with water plus two cans of Block Weld (no anti-freeze). Run the motor until warm (about 30 minutes). This hardens the Block Weld where the water is leaking into the motor. Do not rev the motor into high RPM during this process!

Step 6: Leave the motor off for a minimum of three hours

Step 7: Drive for 20-30 minutes in the local area to make sure that the repair has worked. Keep the RPM down! If successful, drain a small amount of water from the radiator and add some anti-freeze. If it's still leaking water into the engine, add another bottle of Block Weld and run the engine for 20-30 minutes. Let stand for three hours again. Test drive again.

Step 8: Drive the car around like you used to... assuming that the process worked!
This process can be a real pain to perform because you have to start the motor to accomplish the warm ups during the steps. Don't forget to pull the fuse when you turn the motor over to push out the water prior to each start up. Cups and cups of water came out of my motor throughout the process! I have been driving the car pretty hard since the temporary fix and it has held up well. It now starts easily, has plenty of power, and hasn't needed any water to be added to the system since I added the Block Weld (about two months ago). It was a lot easier to do this temporary fix than to go out and buy another motor/car, especially since my other one is almost done.
If your motor is shot (like mine was) you've got nothing to lose. If it works for you thank Paul Yaw at YawPower. His crappy little shop truck has been driven pretty hard for two years after this same kind of temporary fix. He claims that his truck's motor was blowing even more water out of it than mine was.


If you follow the directions on the can of Block Weld, it will not work for this type of repair! Follow the steps listed above. Be very aggressive in your efforts to clean the inside of the cooling system.

 

and don't forget to use a crappy radiator between steps 6 and 7.

 

we're about to start the "block weld trick"


wish us luck....

 

if you use ceramic sealer instead, it won't plug up the radiator and heater core.

 

i jsut started up the car to check everything before we started the block sealer stuff, and it didnt smoke at all.......

went for a drive, no smoke... i'm kinda confused now..

 

It may have to heat up; but keep an eagle eye on the coolant level and yer fingers crossed, maybe it healed!

 

lol yeah i dont think it magically healed... i let it heat up and went for a 15 minute drive and nothing bad happened.

 

Hey - please tell us about the ceramic sealer. Sounds interested and non-destructive.

 

doing this as we speak. on step 4 now i got a puff of sweet smelling smoke this morning on startup. it seems to be relatively intermittent, and probably isnt as bad as it could be, so i think the block weld will probably do well and hold me over atleast til the summer when i can afford a full rebuild.

anyways, i'll report back

 

it's made by irontite.
go search in teamfc3s.org for ceramic sealer and a couple threads will pop up.

 

LOL not everyone has the same dreams (or night mares). I did it followed the instructions to the letter and got another 14 month's of life out of the motor. Gave me time to get a new radiator, low milage motor and a few other items prior to the rip out the old and put in the new. I have had no issues with my current setup, nothing clogged or other wise. The hardest part of the whole mess was getting all that concentrated soap out of that engine ! ! ! I'm saying everyone should try it, I'm just saying I had an acceptable amount of success with it and was pleased with the results, had I kept my boost levels down below the 10 and 12 psi I was pulling every now and then I'm sure it would have lasted significantly longer. Perhaps therapy ? ? ?:-)

 

thats good to hear.

i did the block weld trick and let it run, now its cooling off, gonna go start it in another 2 hours or so...

it was a PITA to get the soap out of the system... i flushed it out 4 times and i still even got a few bubbles when i filled it up the last time with the block seal. we'll see what happens later tonigt

 

ROTFLMAO....getting that soap out was a deffinate PITA, I'll have to admitt the driveway looked really good where I worked on the car and this caused me to have to do the whole driveway. Part of that cause and effect thing. Jack

 

Went and found the info - good stuff - thanks,,,,,,,,chuckles

 

ok we completed the block seal trick...

now one question. when am i allowed to drain this nasty **** out and put some antifreeze back in?

 

Um if I recall after you add the block weld treatment the procedure calls for draing (after it's cooled) just enough water to add the desired amount of coolant to achieve the percentage of mixture you want to run. The blockweld stuff stays in there running around so it can refill any further seal deterioration.

 

I've never tried it, but I think if it were me, I'd run around for a few days and heat cycles to let it completely fill any gaps, and then I'd do a full drain/flush and refill.

 

well, i now have no bubbling sound from the heater core when i turn off the car... i let the car sit for 4 hours after running it with the blockseal in it, then let it cool, heated it back up, and went for a drive to get some gas. i just now went for another drive and all is well... no bubbles in the coolant, no bubbling sound from the heater core, nothing weird.

SO i just turned the car off warmed up after going for a drive (i would only get coolant smoke after the car was shut off hot and was started up more than 2 hours later cold) and we'll see if it smokes when i start it in the morning. if not, then blockseal just bought me some time for a full rebuild

 

I know this will be hard, but you should refrain from serious boosting. (I speak from experience) it will last allot longer and if you can make it till you have the spare bullit ready to go it will be easier if you can reinstall the next motor asap after removing the hurt one. You'd also be better off if it was some what intact (not leaking water into the housings) when you shut it down as it will begin to rust very quickly and will be ruined as far as using any parts for a rebuild. So you've bought some time (who knows exactly how long) just use the time wisely young weedhopper.

 

ok i drove around all day today with nothing weird, no bubbly sound from the heater core when i turned the car off, no overheating or anything.

i have let the car warm up, turned it off, let it sit and started it again several times today and last night and have had no smell of coolant and no smoke when i start the car.

 

I was surprised how quick the results were too. You must have a very small leak right now. Good luck with it and start getting your ducks in a row, depending on your driving you could get a week or you could get a year or better out of it. jack