Come so far to find this!

[Parzival]

Well, after all the work of tearing down the heads, getting them machined, dropping the oil pan to replace the liner seals, and TONS of other stuff. TONS!
The heads are put back on and I go to install the exhaust and what do I find.... A crack in the block.
By the looks of this I don't know if it was there before or not. Because of the location I believe it may have occurred when torquing the heads, which was done exactly by the book (DMC-81 can vouch for that as-well) and the threads were cleaned up with a tap before re installing the heads so who knows how that can happen.
IMG_5556.jpg
IMG_5557.jpg

The trouble is this is where the threads for the head bolt are, so 1) who know if its really getting the clamping force required, 2) coolant may be able to leak out, 3) the crack will spread with heat up and cool down cycles 4) if this happened here, there may be more of them unseen.
So now it looks like I may be in need of an engine, and after spending over 40k on the car, to still need an engine is probably the most un-motivational thing I think I could ever come up with.
Living the dream, I am not sadly.

[Riley88]

Holy shit this sucks to see man, I am so sorry. You didn't do a full block inspection when you first tore it down? SOmeone was just selling a motor, but I am not sure if it sold, I am sure you saw the thread. Ill look around for you. Im always looking at parts, ebay, craigslist etc. If i see anything ill post it here bud. Someone whos a better engine expert im sure will post

EDIT: white out here on the forum seems to have a motor for sale!

[Parzival]

Holy shit this sucks to see man, I am so sorry. You didn't do a full block inspection when you first tore it down? SOmeone was just selling a motor, but I am not sure if it sold, I am sure you saw the thread. Ill look around for you. Im always looking at parts, ebay, craigslist etc. If i see anything ill post it here bud. Someone whos a better engine expert im sure will post

EDIT: white out here on the forum seems to have a motor for sale!

Thank you!
Yeah, not sure what to think at this point.
I'm about to leave on a trip for a week, I'll be filming full days the whole time Im gone so, wont really be deciding what to do until I get back.

As far as looking over the block, I did look at it and didn't see this, The engines never been out of the car, so those areas can be hard to see I guess. When I went to install the exhaust I got a new light that was much brighter and then I saw it, that was earlier this evening. Then just said screw it and went in.

[Riley88]

crack doesnt seem so bad

[Parzival]

crack doesnt seem so bad

I can’t imagine that coolant won’t leak out from it


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[Michael]

I can’t imagine that coolant won’t leak out from it


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As long as there are no passages open it shouldn't leak. What you might consider doing is removing the head and having it welded You might have to retap or clean up the threads but you might get lucky and just have to R+R the head and replace the gasket. If it's not possible to weld(most people don't want to weld aluminium) maybe a cold weld would work. The only issue is the torque applied right at that point with the head bolts. It might pull back loose but I would at least investigate the possibility.

I assume that if you can picture it that you can get in there to repair it without removing the engine.

[Rich_NYS]

Sorry to see that, man.

My 0.02: I agree that since you're so close to completion, you haven't much to lose by seeing if it holds.
I also believe it can be fixed I'd necessary. I agree JB Weld is worth a try, an "undercut" would probably help a lot in this case.

[DMC-Ron]

I believe it would be worth trying the JB weld before running the engine. The concern here is the crack may worsen with engine pressure and vibration. JB weld may not prevent this. It might crack right along with the block. But I have seen JB weld do some amazing things. I repaired a puncture in an aluminum engine block and it has held for years. However, this situation looks to be a more challenging application for the product. Still, it may just take a little support from the JB to keep the crack from propagating.

Doing an undercut would normally be good practice to give the JB more grip, but I would be reluctant in this case because of the crack location near the head bolt. I would recommend you just clean the area with brake cleaner and wire brush. Get all oil and grease removed and rough up the surface. Just before your ready to apply the JB, put a very small amount of moly lube on the exposed bolt thread. Again, a very small amount applied with a toothpick or jeweler screwdriver. This is simply to keep the JB from adhering directly to the bolt thread. Then follow the application instructions. I use nitrite gloves to spread and work the JB in with strong finger pressure. You're using the JB for two functions. First to add a structural surface coating to prevent the crack from worsening, and second to seal the hole where there might be a potential leak.

Best of luck. We're all pulling for you.
Ron

[SamHill]

Sounds like others have had some success layering JB Weld over several days as well. Kind of on the fence, because you'll always be checking on it even if it holds for years.

[David T]

I agree you should continue and see if it does actually leak. You can do the JB Weld but I doubt it will be of any use except to cover the mess up so you can't see what what happens, if it leaks or gets worse. For the epoxy repair to work the surfaces must be clean. No way you will get it clean enough. Also JB Weld is not meant for, or is strong enough for this kind of repair. Having tried this kind of block repair on blocks that were cracked from freezing, even if it works it won't last.