Inlet Manifold Leaking

[Guest]

Common problem, I'm having difficulty sealing the inlet manifold, the problem is at the "front" (thermostat end) of the manifold at the top, tried different sealers and a secondhand machined manifold, problem reduced but not solved. Engine in fine shape and cooling well. Has anyone tried the BL manual way of slackening one of the heads ? and if so did the head gasket seal again ? Thanks.

[milothedog]

Try a bottle of "K seal" no stag should be without it

Ian.

[nib]

Hi Roden
As Ian sais I would try a bottle of k seal and also try tweaking the surrounding bolts around your leak but be careful not to go too ott because you will ruin the thread in the head.I have just sorted a leaky i/manifold near the 8 area short bolt,I find the bolts can need a tweak after time although I would consider where its leaking because you could be asking for trouble.
Im out near Newmarket by the way.
Mark

[jleyton]

Hi Roden,

Welcome to the forum and good luck with this.

I too am a believer in K seal. However, do you know about the manifold/head problems that can occur if the heads have been skimmed ? When that's been done, it alters the relationship/angle between the head and manifold. It's worth checking the gap between the heads and manifold at several places with feeler gauges to determine if there is an excessive gap at any point.

Cheers

Julian

[Roden]

Ok, will try K Seal. It is possible the heads have been skimmed, if the feeler gauge test shows a gap what would be the best thing to do, have the inlet manifold skimmed (how much to take off ?) or use a large flat file ? Guessing slackening the head is not recommended. Thanks for the replies

[jleyton]

Luckily I've not had the problem myself but it has been discussed on here quite a bit. It's probably worth you doing a search on here to see what has been written.

Personally, I wouldn't want to slacken the head.

Cheers

Julian

[elvimto]

If you can or know somebody who can try this cut your own manifold gaskets I did that after going through find the leak I used hylomar to seal. I found that the payen gaskets were holding the manifold up and could get every bolt bar 2 tried different bolting up same story. So I made my gaskets at work not hard trace them from the payen ones you don't need the little leak groove that they put in them (the sealer fills that anyway)i use a thinner material, its good stuff we use it for pumps pipe flanges etc I also reamed out the holes just a lttle at the top end every bit helped but the main thing is the manifold fitted and no leaks or K seal, cooling system runs fine with no fan or header tank just the expansion bottle. I would not loosen up the head unless I was going to do a top end overhaul or replace the gasket but what ever floats your boat as some say, hope this helps you.

cheers Stuart

[jakesmig]

Would suggest you leave the cylinder head well alone, it must be doubtfull that it will be causing the problem.
Try loosening the whole manifold until it is slack, then commence tightening up from the area where it leaks at present. It may be that the manifold is 'rocking' on a slight discrepancy somewhere, and commencing at the 'defective joint' may overcome your problem.
John.

[SGN]

I read somewhere, you can drill the holes in the manifold slightly larger, this will then let the manifold sit lower in the vee, rather than foul on the bolts, also when you locate the bolts, before tightening, put a block of wood on top of the manifold and put a ratchet strap around the block, you can really get some pressure on it before you tighten.

Cheers
Steve

[Giles]

As others have said - I would leave the head well alone. I have had good results with K seal but it depends on how bad the leak is. If it is weep it should deal with it.

[Dieter H. Marschall]

I read somewhere, you can drill the holes in the manifold slightly larger, this will then let the manifold sit lower in the vee, rather than foul on the bolts, also when you locate the bolts, before tightening, put a block of wood on top of the manifold and put a ratchet strap around the block, you can really get some pressure on it before you tighten.

Cheers
Steve

Hello Steve,

This is what I did and it worked. My pal, who helped me, does not believe in the use of sealants when replacing the inlet manifold. We used some grease, which later disappears due to the heat.

Good luck!
Dieter.

[nik]

Hello - it must that that time of year (!!) as I too have the same problem. This is the third time I will have tried to sort this out. First time on getting the car back on the road after a mojor resto, second time because I missed a poor condition coreplug on the underside of the inlet manifold. Last time, on reassembly, I have resealed the water pump housing (new gasket following a check over just in case) and I have used payen gaskets with hylomars blue. I thought I had cured it when I put a new core plug in the inlet manifold (underneath) but this has not stopped the leak in to the V. I have to top up the coolant level reasonably regularly so I am tackling the job again as, to be honest, I thought I had perhaps not sealed it well enough last time. On opening it up though, I cannot see any signs of leaking from any of those points. When I reassemble it I will smeer some sealer around the hoses where they join the housings. Before I put everything together again, I would be grateful for the thoughts of anyone more experienced than me.
To my knowledge she has not overheated since having new heads (Southern Triumph Services 5 years 15k ago) and has certainly not overheated during my 3000mls.

Happy New Year from the Isle of Man, All.

[Dieter H. Marschall]

Hello,

Have you checked whether this leak comes from the waterpump? If the top seal of the latter is gone, it leaks through a small slit at the rear of the pump housing into the V.

Good luck!
Dieter.

[Moraystag]

Christ just refitted my inlet manifold before I came back to work. Hope mine does not leak.
I fitted Klinger Gaskets supplied by J.P.s. I only put sealer on the head side to keep the gaskets in place until I got the bolts located through the manifold holes.
I did contact the Klinger gasket technical people who advised that I use no sealer on the inlet manifold gaskets.
I did clean the manifold faces until they were completely mark or scratch free, with very fine emery paper, but to be honest they were not really market or pitted.
The head faces were cleaned with solvent as there was no corrosion or marks on them.
The bolt holes were retapped, but only really to clean them out and new bolts used all round.
However only time will tell once I fit all the hoses and carbs.
I would consider using K seal if I do find some weepage as it worked for me when my water pump started leaking at the end of the summer. The pump has now been skimmed and refurbed so hopefully will no longer leak.
I did notice that heater carbon steel pipe that runs along the inside of the right hand head was pretty corroded where the rubber pipes push onto it, check that the leaks not coming from there at the front and underneath, just a thought, and was suprised mine had not been seeping coolant from that area going on the condition of the ends.

Happy New Year from Azerbaijan

Mike

[SGN]

Hello Steve,

This is what I did and it worked. My pal, who helped me, does not believe in the use of sealants when replacing the inlet manifold. We used some grease, which later disappears due to the heat.

Good luck!
Dieter.

Hi Dieter

Maybe that's where I read it, if you did it. Glad it worked.

Cheers
Steve