Thread: ARP Head Studs and Seeping Coolant

I know these need sealant such as PTFE or teflon tape, which is why I used PTFE on them. But, one of the studs is leaking coolant anyway.

Has anyone ever just removed one stud, chased, taped, reinstalled and torqued instead of removing the whole head? Did it work out? Obviously I'll need to drain the coolant.

I'm not looking for opinions on what could happen, just actual experiences.

I found at least one LS1 guy that did it without issue, Looking for someone with the same experience on a 3800.

TIA

head studs get thread locker i thought?

can say ive done it, but id give it a shot. whats one bolt?

You used tape or paste? I'd give it a shot by draining the coolant and then taking the stud out and cleaning the threads, reusing sealant and reinstall. Got nothing to lose for sure... And I did mention using sealant, not tape!

lol... I'm just repeating all I've read, tape is NG. I'm just not sure how good an idea is to un-torque one bolt from the head without doing all? Others can chime in on it though. ; )

good luck!

Sorry, I used PTFE paste.

I've read it either way. Tape is better than paste and the other way around.

Did you clean the holes, and put lots of paste down the threads and on the bolt/studs? Or just paint the threads? Just curious... And how long after until the engine was filled with coolant and run?

Yep on chasing the holes and I only put sealant on the threads of the studs.

I put the engine together and ran it within a week or 2 maybe? I remember it being fairly quick. It's been 3-4 years since then and it's seen less than a 1000 miles.

you have to let the car sit and let the paste cure for like 24 hours before you can do anything, FYI. if you didn't do that you'll blow out the paste and they'll weep up through the threads.

i'm sure you could get away with one stud at a time, but if you're already that far it would be just as easy to take the head off.

PTFE cure times that I've found are all much less than 24 hours. Either way, it was longer than that.

See original post, it's just one stud seeping. It would take substantially less time to just pull that one front stud.

do it, then.

i don't remember if i did this exact thing when i did mine (had a few weeping) or if i redid the entire thing. pretty sure i just did the few that were not right.

I always use paste. Zzp says to use tape, and they've never had one leak with tape.

IMO, spend lots of time chasing threads and cleaning. If you use paste, make sure to torque the head down ASAP to give the paste as little time as possible to set up.

I would try to fix the one stud. If it works, it'll save you a lot of work.

Hey Mike.. sucks to see the issue.

I always used paste and filled the threads. I had an issue where all four of the lower studs were hitting the headers and not allowing them to bolt up. I loosened one at a time, drove them further down and then retorqued the nuts. No heat cycles or coolant present, but did do it w/o any issues. That's 8 studs that I redid that way.

I think if you were to drain coolant and pull the knock sensor to remove the rest of the coolant.. then you'll have no coolant present and the best chance of it working.

put a small amount of bars stopleak in it. if any of the inboard arent sealed they will be leaking coolant into the oil. the bars stopleak should plug those too if there's an unseen issue.

my current method is pink wrapped at the top of the threads near stud shoulder with paste. slotted old oem bolts to chase em and pump a bore brush down and unscrew. use a tall socket ofr a dial caliper to make sure they are all seated to consistent install heights.
then i tq down the head within a few hours. the teflon paste is just left to air dry for 10 minutes till its stiff but not hard before install.

Originally Posted by Turbocharged400sbc

slotted old oem bolts to chase em

I think it works better than the proper tool..

a little care in how you slice the grooves helps alot...as one groove will have a debris catch pocket going in and the other groove/grooves angled to catch everything coming out

one slot "cutting" like a tap edge going in...2 cutting slots coming out type deal.

a speed handle, 9/16ths and a flat screwdriver/blowgun let you rocket through cleaning em all...just remember to blow the crud off the bolt outside the garage...

I airgun zip then in and out. Speed handles are slow.

Then I wipe the bolt before blow gun.

i avoid air exhaust tools with an open motor

any pics of this home made thread chaser?

youve seen a tap right?

you have a cutoof wheel and a 3" or 4.5" wizzer/grinder?

you cut slots across the threads...just dont do it straight on...just off center and your slot becomes angled and catches more crap than a straight on slot.

if you spin the bolt in your hand my bolt will chew the **** outta your hand counter clockwise with two grooves while only one would wreck your **** clockwise/tighten.

straight grooves work just fine. if ya wanna go overboard groove all your spare bolts and run virgin cut grooves down each after you make an initial pass through all of em with your first bolt. the raised edges and burrs from cutting your groove work quite well to scrub the block threads without cutting em deeper and destroying the thread root like a tap would.

watching bill do this must be akin to watching two women trying to impregnate each other....fascinating and enjoyable to watch... but not accomplishing the goal setout upon

so head of bolt close to me end of bolt furthest away cut two lines angled to the right, one on each side of the threads?

Originally Posted by Turbocharged400sbc

watching bill do this must be akin to watching two women trying to impregnate each other....fascinating and enjoyable to watch... but not accomplishing the goal setout upon

I impregnate both.. smooch my buns. It works just fine with air or without. LOL