[grapedrank]

So been working hard on my G16b conversion for the last couple of weeks, got it started late last week for the first time on the first try which was awesome. Today I was tidying up the engine bay ready to drive it down to get an exhaust tomorrow and was going to fix a water leak which i thought would have been one of the small hoses on the intake manifold then this happened..





There is G16a block available for me to use but it will require a rebuild.. obviously more time and money too. Are there any options for repairing a crack like this without having to pull it apart?

[buzbox]

For a band aid solution, Permatex liquid metal.

[Vits93]

I used Devcon aluminium putty or the or the 3M equal i used the 3M stuff their both good stuff if you can get it.



i think i did well over 5000Km's with it like this.

Just clean the area i used isopropel to remove oil and coolant then scuff up the area.

[grapedrank]

buzbox wrote:

For a band aid solution, Permatex liquid metal.

Vits93 wrote:

I used Devcon aluminium putty or the or the 3M equal i used the 3M stuff their both good stuff if you can get it.

i think i did well over 5000Km's with it like this.

Just clean the area i used isopropel to remove oil and coolant then scuff up the area.

I think I might give this a go. I need a car to drive and it only needs the exhaust done then it is relatively finished so I could rebuild the spare block and put it in when I have more free time. it is interesting that my engine cracked in the same spot as yours though

cheers

[atari4x4]

it's actually quite common for the G16 to crack there, some have had it professionally welded with success.

[Vits93]

grapedrank wrote:

I think I might give this a go. I need a car to drive and it only needs the exhaust done then it is relatively finished so I could rebuild the spare block and put it in when I have more free time. it is interesting that my engine cracked in the same spot as yours though

cheers

As atari said it's very common for them to crack near the welsh plugs.

When using the putty make sure you do the surface prep.

[christover1]

silver seal works well as a band aid solution, very cheap, and claims to not block up cooling system.
It kept my old donk going over a year without leaking

[Reubs]

I've used chem-i-weld on 2 different G16 blocks with success.

One of them had cracks at both ends of the block!

Only costs about $15 and the only extras you need is coolant for after the treatment and some Silastic to seal the thermostat housing after you flush the system.

Only prep you need with chem-i-weld is a flush of the cooling system first.

[appsie]

i ran seal up for over 3 years,done the job.still doing the job on my g16. $10

[grapedrank]

appsie wrote:

i ran seal up for over 3 years,done the job.still doing the job on my g16. $10

Been reading about this but I can't figure out if seal up is the type that isn't compatible with anti-freeze like bars stop leak. I'm guessing I probably wouldnt need to worry about the flushing if I used seal up though seeing as I filled the engine with water after the conversion and have had to empty it a few times since then and refilled again with water so it is sounding like an easier alternative..

[christover1]

Silver seal is compatible with coolants and sensers according to the product info.
Bars leaks can block stuff up I hear, and is unkind to sensers.
I doubt it is suitable for big cracks anyway.
Only hearsay tho.
But I can vouch for silver seal personally

[FullyZooked]

Mine too cracked In the same Spot. Band aid fixes are not to my liking though.

I had my crack tapped and stitched. This is by far the best way to go and you won't have to worry about it failing.

This is only good if you have a bit of room to get in there and do your work. We done mine with the engine still in and inlet manifold off.

Just another idea for you.

[JrZook]

FullyZooked wrote:

I had my crack tapped and stitched.

Thought I'd only ever hear that from Thrusho

[grapedrank]

I ended up using Rislone engine block seal. Pretty much the same thing as seal up: sodium silicate + copper except that seal up was not compatible with glycol based coolants whereas the Rislone brand one can be mixed with coolant and you don't need to drain it. It is twice the price of seal up but its still a $20 fix and you get twice as much (500ml). Took about 2-3 minutes of running the engine and then no more leak according to wiki a sodium silicate repair should last a couple of years.. at least enough time to sort out a more permanent solution!