water leak cylinder head gasket 426 Hemi

Hi,

I do have a charger with a 426 Hemi engine. It is a 1996 crate engine. It started leaking water on the drivers side cylinder head gasket in the front direction to the power steering pump. It only leaked when the engine was cold. After it warmed up it stopped leaking. It didn't use a lot of water so I didn't worry to much about it.

While my car was at a local repair shop sometime ago they freshend up the cosmetic on my engine. And sealed the the waterleak from outside due to partly painting the engine. Since that time the water can't run out of the engine anymore. But the leak must be still somewhere as the gasket hasn't been changed.

I didn't drive the car for a while but noticed now that it has a water consumption of around a quart on a 100 miles. So I have to add up water regulary. I drove now already 1.000 miles this summer, it hasn't gotten worse

Is the water going into the combustion chamber?
Is it a 426 Hemi specific problem?
Any idears what is happening?
How risky is it to continue to drive?

Carsten

Hello, you can check the spark plug around where it is leaking,see if the color of it is off compared to another plug. Also, check the oil, does it look milky (light brown and a weird consistency)? If the oil id milky, it means the water is getting into the oil. I would suggest pulling the head off, confirm that it is not warped or the head gasket messed up. You would be able to tell where the water is getting by the head gasket as it should show a discoloration or just look different. Also, you could check to see if the head bolts were at the proper torque b4 removing the head. It sounds like maybe one isn.t tight since it fixes itself as it heats up(the metal expanding). I would still pull the head and investigate. You don't want it to get worse and have water go in to the oil system and wind up blowing the motor. Check for previous posts on here as I am sure I read somewhere that original crate motors (the first couple years they came out) had shotty quality control and it was recommended to have it torn down and everything checked. Hope this info helps.

Mark

The water is going somewhere , how does the oil look ? does it blow white smoke out the exhaust when it's running and cold ?

1996 crate hemi ?

Hi,

thanks for the feedback.
The oil looks fine. Golden as usual, there is also no oil in the water. I will check the spark plug. Despite from using water it runs strong on all eight cylinders and doesn't make any problem.

The engine is one of the first new ones from 1996. I mixed it up, it isn't a crate engine which was built by mopar. It was just a new block. Then engine was built overhere to stock specifications.

Carsten

If the oil and plugs look good maybe you are just losing coolant through the overflow on the radiator. Normal in the days before closed cooling systems.

When I first built my 528 it did the same thing as yours but on both sides, I have aluminum heads and was using copper gaskets. I pulled the heads and used Fel-Pro composition gaskets leaked a little on start-up, but after warm-up has not leaked since!

Quote:

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If the oil and plugs look good maybe you are just losing coolant through the overflow on the radiator. Normal in the days before closed cooling systems.

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Hi,

no, the radiator is just filled to the metal piece inside the radiator. No water lieaks out over the overflow. The system also helds its pressure. Just to be sure I tested it and attached a piece of paper (zewa) to the end of the overflow. It stayed dry.

Thanks for your input guys!

Carsten