motor pushing out water

[AJGARBER70]

my motor started pushing out water last year and would push enough out that after a 20 lap race it had pushed so much out it would try to get hot. so i took motor to builder had it checked out and everything was good but i still have the problem i went from a 16lb cap to a 32 lb cap with no help. so i took the tripple pass radiator out and put a 2 row single in this past week i made about 5 laps in the race till drive shaft went out and it was pushing it some when i pulled in and shut the motor off i washed the car sunday and got it in the shop to take radiator cap off to see how much pushed out and the thing had so much pressure me and the motor took a bath in water when i took the cap off. so i am looking for ideas it is a sbc with alluminum dart heads i dont have a heating issue its just that it is pushing water out and if im not carefull it will turn into a heating issue plugs look good so does oil no water in the oil at all i run alcohol and temp is maybe 145

[Graff Spee]

Was the block ever sleeved? If so try some stop leak. Other than that it sounds like a head gasket. Good luck.

[AJGARBER70]

yes it has been sleeved the motor man said it did not have a blown head gasket when he tore it down and checked the heads but said when he went to put the heads back on he felt the threads in the block pulling on a couple so he got new head bolts and took off the washers and put a few heli coils in the block he said for some reason that set of heads were taller than normal where the head sits on the block to the top where the bolts sit on the outside row above headers i never had this problem with this motor untill i blew my other motor thats why i switched radiators this past week thinking it may have got damaged from the othe motor blowing up because it did get hot

[TeamGRT12x]

You're pushing air into the system somewhere. I would start with some block sealer and go from there. Sounds like it could be a head gasket, cracked cylinder wall or cracked head.

[AJGARBER70]

i agree but i talked to the builder today and he says the heads and block are good he said if the heads were cracked it would steam out the pipe and miss or a cylinder would have water in it. so i asked about the sleeve in the block and he said if it was bad or the block was cracked i would have water in the oil and i dont...so i guess i will change the water pump even though i know it works and go back to the smaller radiator cap and see what that does i guess

[stock car driver]

i agree but i talked to the builder today and he says the heads and block are good he said if the heads were cracked it would steam out the pipe and miss or a cylinder would have water in it. so i asked about the sleeve in the block and he said if it was bad or the block was cracked i would have water in the oil and i dont...so i guess i will change the water pump even though i know it works and go back to the smaller radiator cap and see what that does i guess

How can he say the heads and block are good, are they taken apart in his shop?

If your piston to head clearance is tight the pistons will lift the head enough to allow comp. in the cooling system and temps will quickly rise and also push water.....

There will be no steam, no miss, nothing. The only way to know is to pull the heads off and check.

I dont run sleeved blocks, they are too cheap to replace for the hassle and question of them holding well for long.

[TeamGRT12x]

That's not going to fix anything. You're pumping the system full of air. There is a crack somewhere. I'd find a new engine builder.

You can test the cooling system by pressurizing it and seeing how fast the pressure bleeds off. I'd do that before ripping into a bunch of stuff. Also, Dump some block sealer in it with a junk radiator and try to seal up whatever is happening that way. A cracked head will not always fill the cylinder or cause a miss.

[AJGARBER70]

That's not going to fix anything. You're pumping the system full of air. There is a crack somewhere. I'd find a new engine builder.

You can test the cooling system by pressurizing it and seeing how fast the pressure bleeds off. I'd do that before ripping into a bunch of stuff. Also, Dump some block sealer in it with a junk radiator and try to seal up whatever is happening that way. A cracked head will not always fill the cylinder or cause a miss.

the engine is fresh out of the shop with the same problem pushing water out. i had to finish the season with this motor last year and it was fresh then also. i did pressure check on it and it holds. i ran last week it was fine after hot laps did not push any out during qualifying untill a few miniuts after the car was parked in the pits after it was shut off then i made about 5 laps in the feature race untill drive shaft came out and it pushed some out so the car sit all night saturday and up till about 2pm sunday i went to take the radiator cap off to see how much i lost and poof the cap blew to the roof and i took a bath and this is with a 32 lb cap???????

[Graff Spee]

Just try the stop leak that looks like ground up brass. Put two of them in. I have seen this before, although I would prefer not to do it, it usually fixes the problem.

[andy16]

i agree w most previos replies. first off you dont have a heating problem because your running alchohol. those motors run cooler anyway. second , water is being pushed out by compression gasses escaping into cooling system. but it only happens when you run the motor hard and shut it off. the reason your not seeing steam is its only leaking a litle water in and its burning and you never see it and most likely more compression gasses are excaping into the cooling system then water coming in. third. the cooling system builds pressure from the compression leak into the radiator pushing water out the cap even when your motor is at 150 degrees. heat has nothing to do with this part. fourth, all motors get slightly hotter right after being shut off. by about 20 degrees usually. the hotter engine combined w compression leak charged cooling system pushes water out after shut off. fifth, this compression leak only happens during running hard. after it idles and cools the engine seals itself. trapping pressure into the radiator hince its volcano erruption the next day. prob why it doesn leak down in a test. it only happens under race conditions.

finally... you have a compression leak but where?
improper head gasket or torque. may need retourqing after heat cycle? etc etc
improper installed sleeve. is the line where sleeve and block meet open to comb chamber? may not have enough press on sleeve when installed?
cracked block or head. pressure check them go up to 50 lbs? pressure tester cant simulate 200 degree temps. may not leak at 60 degree but pour at 200 degree.
piston may be taping head when things get hot they expand and you rev it they expand a little more. could explain damaged bolt threads also.
gotta check it?

point is better stop running it and find it. right now you have a little problem. when it hydros and breaks the whole bottom end price goes up expo.

[C10]

Where is your radiator cap? Are you running one that mounts to the water neck on the engine in the upper radiator hose outlet? If so, is that where its pushing out of?

[DaveBauerSS6]

Friend had one with the same symptoms, the third time pulling the motor apart the machine shop found the crack in the cylinder wall. He heated the block to find it. Previous two times he said everything was ok.

[dirty white boy]

i agree with andy,...bout has to be heads lifting!! enuff to cause thread damage,...good luck

[V1SLM]

I've seen many builders use thin sleeves that dont come out to the fire ring on the head gasket do this! Always use thick sleeves when repairing a damaged block.

[AJGARBER70]

thanks for the info i will be pulling the heads back off to have them checked again i agree with you andy16

[andy16]

the sleeves i recomend have a step at the top they get wider at the top. kinda like a "T" if you use this kind block deck will have to be surfaced. and only a quality shop will use em but the block will be like brand new. nothing wrong w sleeving a block if nascar didn have a rule against it they would sleeve every cylinder. thats why they made the rule to stop the rising cost of machining blocks. plus the blocks would last forever and gm ford dodge cant have that can they. so they slipped somebody some cash to come up w that rule w the purpose of saving money lol.

anyway it may not even be the cylinder just have to check

[AJGARBER70]

ya i think it's a head cracked the block has had the sleeve in it a couple of seasons so i realy dont think thats what it is. but worst case if the heads are said to be good then i guess i will have to go the rest of the way to check the block out the only thing he said was 1 head had some twist to it when he went threw them other than a coulple of threads were pulling when he put them on

[andy16]

you may want to research using studs in the middle three holes if thats where the thread problem is. you have to use them w some 23* heads like brodix. they are extra tall by like .250 thou.

[Dirtrunner35]

Take the water pump belt off and empty some water out until level with the intake where the thermostat goes, with the housing off. Start engine and see if you get any bubbles, don't let it run long.

[Mosidebite]

Did all the same stuff with mine for the last year. Even the radiator bath on Sunday afternoon while cleaning and washing.

You mentioned they were Dart heads, what are the chances they are the 23 degree cnc'd heads? Ihad them and another pair. BOTH had cracked in the chambers and gave me fits! Local machine shop checked em out and gave them a clean bill of health. DROVE ME NUTS!

Ending up sending them to Wells machine (who had originally built it) 7 states away and he pressure tested them on the bench and thought they were good too. Called me a couple days later after some more goofing with them and found the chambers were cracking. (multiple) Dennis then said they were way too thin from Dart to even try to weld.

Different heads and fixed, no water missing after heats or features.

Things we did:

high pressure cap
new intake gaskets
new head gaskets
pressure checked everything
replaced radiator
changed pulley ratio

I hope it is something else for ya but...