New Engine burning Coolant problem- Help!?

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68firebird

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Hi Guys,

I got a 68 Firebird that I am restoring. We rebuilt the engine and put brand new heads on it.

Recently we got it started (started right up) except it starts burning coolant and some will leak out of the exhaust.

The only place (that I know of) that the coolant could get into the cylinder is through the head gasket. But we followed all the FelPro directions and torqued it down the right way. No gasket sealant, followed the torque pattern little by little, and torqued it according to the book (said 85-95) of 90 lbs per inch.

What is the problem and how can I seal this up?

read this about head torque, you have bolts that are not torqued correctly www.wallaceracing.com/torque.htm You say new heads, you mean aftermarket such as Edelbrock? Did you check that the block/head mating surface was straight? Which engine and what part number heade gasket?

Thanks for your reply and the link. Our manual didn't say to tighten the middle two bolts down more to 100 ft/lbs so maybe thats the problem. We tighten all of them at 90 ft/lbs when the range they said was 80-95 ft/lbs.

Yes, we have aftermarket heads from Kauffman.

I can't remember if we checked it with our eyes or with an instrument because it was a few months ago. Hope that we didn't miss anything.

I don't see the part number for the head gasket but the engine is a 350.

Are you using inch pounds or foot pounds

Im using foot pounds. It was a mistake- sorry about the confusion.
 
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Since you are using KRE heads, can I assume they are aluminum? If so, doesnt Kaufman provide the torque numbers for their heads? Again an assumption would be that the torque specs and installation procedure for aluminum heads would be different than the factory cast iron heads. Either way you should probably contact them.
 
what brand intake manifold are you using, new or old, and how tight did you make the bolts? As nightroddersp pointed out, fluid could go from the front crossover in the manifold to either the number 1 or 2 cylinder port in the head. If the KRE head has a water port in the back it could also go from that port across the manifold gasket to the 7 or 8 port in the head.
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Update

Thanks for the help guys as this is extremely frustrating.

We talked to the people at Kaufman and they said the torque should be the same (about 85 - 95 ft lbs).

Second Idea
After that I risked it and tightened it down to 100 ft lbs. It seems like it reduced the smoke but I am not positive. Either way it is still burning coolant and vapor is coming out of the exhaust.

Third Idea
I wanted to make sure my torque wrench was precise so I rented a better one and checked the bolts. NO SOULTION there either. So the torque wrench was working right.

Fourth Idea
I decided to take the heads off again after all that installations and check to make sure. I checked with a precision scale both for the engine block surface and head surface. Both are smooth- no nicks or anything.

Now we are going to try some copper sealent and get some new felpro gaskets and see if it helps.

If this doesn't fix it, I can only guess that there is a hole in the heads. I inspected the crossover and no fluid is leaking from the intake gasket. In fact the intake fuel port is inches away from the coolant port on the intake. ANY IDEAS!
 
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a cracked block? The smoke is white?
 
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Yep- the smoke is white.

I don't think the block has a crack because it ran fine on the old heads and I didn't bang it around.
 
what does the oil look like?
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Tom, that is a good question. I just checked it and it does look like there is some type of emulsification going on.

When looking at the tip of the dip stick, it does look like water is getting in there. How the heck is coolant getting into the oil?
 
cracked head or head gasket......maybe the aftermarket heads are not the way to go.....
 
how about the timing chain cover, cracked?
 
You Should Always Replace Old Head Bolts They Will Stretch After Heat Cycles And Will Not Hold Torque
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I Would Say Take A Look At The Inside Of Your Timing Chain Cover If This Cover Is Original To The Car It Probably Has Holes From Oxidation Behind The Water Pump Also Gaskets Over Time Will Harden,bolts And Will Lose Torque
 
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