Cracked block

[Great War truck]

My Jeep has a cracked block on the inside and leaks water into the oil. This is a bad thing. I used rad weld on it some 15 years ago which fixed the problem very well. The problem has now come back again and a cheap solution (ie not buy a new engine) would be to use something similar. Does anybody have any suggestions or thoughts on any particular liquid crack sealant. Rad weld did the job very well last time but i am wondering if there are any other better products?

 

Any recommendations anybody? "Sell Jeep" will not be considered.

 

Thank you

 

Tim (too)

[Richard Farrant]

My Jeep has a cracked block on the inside and leaks water into the oil. This is a bad thing. I used rad weld on it some 15 years ago which fixed the problem very well. .

 

 

 

Tim,

 

Good as Radweld was in its time, there are better products on the market now. One that is gaining a good reputation, is K-Seal, check out the company website, http://www.kalimex.co.uk

 

I have used it myself, and also know someone who had an Austin lorry with a crack in the exhaust port of the head and it worked well on that. I found it in the local trade motor factor.

[Great War truck]

Thanks for that. It looks like just what i need. I will give it a go and will let you know how i get on. I was contemplating a US product called irontite but that is three times more expensive.

 

Thanks again for your suggestion.

 

Tim (too)

[Tony B]

Holt's do a blockweld which is quite good. Dakar at Dartford 01322614044 do a south African leak sealear, I can't remember the name but it is spot on. Supposedly only for commercial use but ask Barry nicely and he will sell you a couple of bottles.

[Great War truck]

Thanks for that. I hope to pick up the K Seal tomorrow. If that does not work i will try your suggestion.

 

Will keep everyone updated on my progress.

 

Tim (too)

[Tony B]

 

http://www.classicheads.com/ Tim , Frank Jolley does a sealing goo. Super bloke very helpful and knowledgeable, and patient with silly questions. try him.

[Great War truck]

Thanks Tony

 

I have got the K Seal now and will give that a go. Failing that i think i will try your suggestion.

 

Thanks again

 

Tim (too)

[Great War truck]

Well, i have drained and then flushed the engine and rad several times and tried the Kalimex K Seal. I have taken it for two long blasts in the country and there is minimal emuslification. Before the K seal was administered the dip stick would be full of what appeared to be mayonaise and now i just had a small amount of white residue inside the dip stick cap and I suspect that was caused by the water leaking into the engine before the kalimex had taken effect.

 

My next plan is to drain all the oil out again, put in new oil and take it for another long drive and see what happens. And there was me contemplating a new engine or an engine rebuild and it seems to have been fixed with an £7 bottle of K Seal!

 

Thanks Kewelde. :tup: I will buy you a pint next time i see you. :beer:

 

Tim (too)

[Tony B]

If only all problems were that easy. Trouble is what happens when anti freeze is added? Does anyone know of somwhere that still stitches Cast iron blocks. Only ever seen it once years ago. the process consits of drilling into the crack then adding a set of threaded studs.

[Great War truck]

The K Seal blurb says it works with antifreeze. In fact i even added it with new anti freeze. We will see what happens.

 

Our WW1 Autocar engine had at some stage suffered severe frost damage, however its previous owner had soldered it all back together again. He had done a superb job and it was not obvious until the thing had been taken apart.

 

Tim (too)

[Tony B]

That K seal sounds useful stuff. I use K Bar as a conditioner in all my kit with the antifreeze change. Are they made by the same people?

[Richard Farrant]

If only all problems were that easy. Trouble is what happens when anti freeze is added? Does anyone know of somwhere that still stitches Cast iron blocks. Only ever seen it once years ago. the process consits of drilling into the crack then adding a set of threaded studs.

 

 

Tony,

 

There is a much better way of cold repairing cracks now, providing they are accessible. A jig is used to drill a row of holes across the crack at 90 degrees. The holes drilled have spaces between, which are then cut through and a metal lock strip is hammered in to the holes and peened over. The crack between these locks is also peened over. A chemical solution can be made up and left in the water jacket for a short time, to seal the crack.

 

When we had the engine rebuild line going, at Workshops, there were occasions when the metal lock system was used. If a cyl block was very badly cracked, like several large AEC diesels that I overhauled when conrods went through the side, taking part of the actual cylinder with them, there was a specialist firm in London, called Barrimor (spelling may not be correct) and when the blocks were returned, you would have a job to see where it was repaired.

[Tony B]

Thanks for that. Hopefully I won't need such things but always useful to have the tip.

[N.O.S.]

My father did them a long time ago - he bought GMCs with zero miles on the clock, but with frosted blocks, for £150 a go after the war (but that was a lot of money then!). He used copper studs, never any trouble.

 

I've seen the lacing / stitching method Kewelde mentioned - brilliant solution for all manner of casting repairs, but the local company in Norwich which did it has packed up, like most other engineering concerns......... :dunno:

[Richard Farrant]

 

I've seen the lacing / stitching method Kewelde mentioned - brilliant solution for all manner of casting repairs, but the local company in Norwich which did it has packed up, like most other engineering concerns......... :dunno:

 

 

Tony,

 

That company is probably like the one I mentioned, Barramor (?), they specialised in cracked castings, blocks, etc for years, repairing by welding, but in these modern times, things are thrown away rather than repair, so guess some of these old specialists are fast dissapearing.

[N.O.S.]

I've just googled 'metal stitching ' and casting crack repair'.

 

It seems there are now several systems out there, and a good few companies offering the service. Also some DIY kits available.

 

So good news if ever needed!

[Chrisg]

One company that i saw at beaulieu this year that specalises in block /cylinder head repairs is surelock http://www.castingrepairs.com

[Richard Farrant]

One company that i saw at beaulieu this year that specalises in block /cylinder head repairs is surelock http://www.castingrepairs.com

 

 

Chris,

 

That is similar to what I was describing, except that system we used was called Metalock..much the same principle.

[Blackpowder44]

If only all problems were that easy. Trouble is what happens when anti freeze is added? Does anyone know of somwhere that still stitches Cast iron blocks. Only ever seen it once years ago. the process consits of drilling into the crack then adding a set of threaded studs.

Tony, I stiched my jeep block myself many years ago and it is still leakproof. The only time it needed after treatment was when the block was skimmed , radweld cured this minor leak. The process is, choose the bolt size you think will suit the job, ascertain the drill size approprate to the tap you will use, find smaller drill, tube of locktite,drill pilot hole, drill with tap size drill, tap hole,screw in bolt with locktite,cut off bolt flush to surface, dotpunch new bolt stem in line with crack , this dot punch must be on the edge of the ground off stem, therefoe when you have drilled and tapped and screwed the next bolt it will half cut into the previous bolt stem,good luck,John

[Blackpowder44]

My Jeep has a cracked block on the inside and leaks water into the oil. This is a bad thing. I used rad weld on it some 15 years ago which fixed the problem very well. The problem has now come back again and a cheap solution (ie not buy a new engine) would be to use something similar. Does anybody have any suggestions or thoughts on any particular liquid crack sealant. Rad weld did the job very well last time but i am wondering if there are any other better products?

 

Any recommendations anybody? "Sell Jeep" will not be considered.

 

Thank you

 

Tim (too)

Tim, My jeeps also had an internal crack letting water into the sump.In both cases the problem was the Distributor tunnel, the solution was to ream out the tunnel and insert a bronze tube, this was done by a verry good Polish engineer,In both cases fine ever since. Roy G. had same problem,his was cured the same way. John

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

Many years ago we had new l/rover engines frozen cracked along the water jacket,we tried one with Metalock he made a lovely job.It failed because it had gone internally as well:argh:

Ceramic sealer rules,its responsable for keeping more rover v8s on the rd than anything else:-D

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

Tim, My jeeps also had an internal crack letting water into the sump.In both cases the problem was the Distributor tunnel, the solution was to ream out the tunnel and insert a bronze tube, this was done by a verry good Polish engineer,In both cases fine ever since. Roy G. had same problem,his was cured the same way. John

Thats a good one ,cheers for telling us.theres nothing better than first hand knowledge.:-D

[Blackpowder44]

Thats a good one ,cheers for telling us.theres nothing better than first hand knowledge.:-D

Bless you catweazle, after all the flak I have been getting on the MPV site its good to get a positive reply. Another strange malfunction on my jeep was petrol leaking from the petrol pump into the sump. I suppose fumes came up the cylinder bores, ignited and blew the valve cover plate off. Someone had his sump blown off in the same malfunction. Electric petrol pumps from then on. John

[melchy]

Another strange malfunction on my jeep was petrol leaking from the petrol pump into the sump. ... Electric petrol pumps from then on. John

 

John,

 

Petrol leaking from your fuel pump into the sump would probably be due to the rubber diaphragm perishing. You can pick up a refit kit for a few quid and it's simple to fit yourself. I fitted mine and I'm simple... erm hang on that's not quite right. :-D

[Blackpowder44]

John,

 

Petrol leaking from your fuel pump into the sump would probably be due to the rubber diaphragm perishing. You can pick up a refit kit for a few quid and it's simple to fit yourself. I fitted mine and I'm simple... erm hang on that's not quite right. :-D

Thanks for your reply. I have owned one of my jeeps for 31 years and oltho having fitted new diaphrams in the past, I now blank off the petrol pump "hole" and use an electric pump.