Head gasket weeping

PacificEd

PacificEd

Member
I have a problem that I'm trying to figure out. Here are the specs: 1971 IH 392 non-improved cooling engine.

The engine ran great many years ago. It really hasn't been run or titled since July 04. It never had any water in the oil.

It did however weep coolant from between the head and block on the passenger side. It looks like it is weeping from between cylinders 4 and 6.

It only uses a little coolant but it never had any issues running. The question is what are the odds that I have damage from erosion of the block, head or both?
 
I think that would depend a lot as to whether it was leaking coolant or raw water. Regardless, I'd pull the heads and replace the gaskets. I've had at least 2 rust out and leak compression into the coolant.
 
It looks like it is coming from one of the coolant passages. I just had to top off the radiator after driving extended distances.
 
Ummm, if the build is factory, that probably has steel shim head gaskets and are known to weep now and then.

GM even had a standard procedure to put a fibrous stop leak tablet in each new head job using the steel gaskets....... Probably not a biggie if you are not leaking our from one of the combustion chambers..
I have in the past used the bars powdered aluminum stop leak in these odd cases... They held for many years and none ever failed.. They take some time to seal up totally but this always worked...
 
Robert, to my knowledge this engine still has the steel head gaskets and has never been apart. The Travelall it came out of had about 70k miles on it back in the early 1990's. I bet it doesn't have 100k on it overall.

I'm trying to fix up an 1973 IH 4x4 1110 pickup and just hate to install an engine that weeps. I thought I would just swap the head gaskets but fear that the block or heads might be eroded.

I can't afford a full rebuild and that is why I worry about taking the heads off. The engine ran like a top before.

I think I'm going to use the fel-pro composite gaskets so maybe if there is any erosion, they will take care of the problem.

Thanks for the information.
 
Here is an update.

After running compression and leak down tests and having questionable results, we decided to tear down the engine just to see what we had.

We found the engine had been into previously once we started disassembly. The intake gaskets had a thin skim of blue rtv. We got to the heads and found black composite gaskets there. I don't know if these are original or replacements. They had a part number on them of mc9673. Inspecting the gaskets found no trace of erosion or damage that would be causing the leak but there is a definite rust trail down the side of the block. The head gasket did seem old and almost brittle with the composite coating separating from the steel inner.

The good news is the engine looks really clean with minimal wear. We have not popped out the pistons yet to see if we have any ring issues, which we think we do as we have seen the cylinder walls having some discoloration/glazing on the side with the questionable head gasket (passenger side cylinders).
 
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Bad news. We checked the last two main bearings last night and we have a problem. The 4th main has a groove in the bearing and the crank has a matching groove that you can catch with your fingernail.
 
It looks like I will need to have the crank ground. The local machine shop is showing a price of $200 to do this. I have no idea if this is reasonable.

Another option is to try to find a better crank from an ic392 that I have in a 1975 Travelall.

I tried searching but didn't find an answer. Are the 345 and 392cranks interchangeable?
 
pacificed said:
it looks like I will need to have the crank ground. The local machine shop is showing a price of $200 to do this. I have no idea if this is reasonable.

Another option is to try to find a better crank from an ic392 that I have in a 1975 Travelall.

I tried searching but didn't find an answer. Are the 345 and 392cranks interchangeable?
Click to expand...


Think of it this way,
unless you find a freshly ground and polished crank, you will likely have to have it ground also.
If the $200 grinds everything meaning all main and rod journals tis a good price. Should also include a micro polish.
 
Robert kenney said:
think of it this way,
unless you find a freshly ground and polished crank, you will likely have to have it ground also.
If the $200 grinds everything meaning all main and rod journals tis a good price. Should also include a micro polish.
Click to expand...

Thanks Robert. I will probably go this direction. I need to go meet with the machine shop to get specifics on everything they will do.
 
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