Thread: Sbc 350 vortec heads coolant out of cylinder 6 exhaust.

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What does the gasket look like?

Quick update: My wife is right, I'm an idiot and this is proof. When I did my first head swap I used the felpro 7733pt2 with great results. When I rebuilt my current block I ordered a sbc gasket kit from a no name brand from Amazon. I just wanted to use the valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, exhaust gasket and other non critical gaskets to save some money. The entire kit was $30. As I was assembling the engine, I guess I carelessly thought "what the hell, I'll try these gaskets because they looked pretty durable." Man was I wrong. The gasket failed not at the metal ring around the piston but at the compressible orange sealing surface. When I removed the heads I can use my index finger and smear that sealant off. It pretty much flakes right off. I'm gonna try to upload a pic but the website is giving me an error. Am I pissed? Not really because it's an easy fix. However, dont cheap out on the head gaskets.

Originally Posted by Grillhands

The entire kit was $30.

And there was a reason for that.

.

So I flushed the engine with 12qts of oil and took the car around for a nice drive about 2 days ago. Today, my friend came over and he wanted to hear the car run. I started it up and within 1 minute the car turned off. I thought maybe I forgot to turn the fuel pump on so I tried to kick it over again but the solenoid only clicked. I checked the volts going to solenoid and everything was good. Turns out MY ENGiNE CEASED!!! I cant even turn it over with a breaker bar on the crank. I drove this car for 600 miles after my rebuild without any problems and it decided to crap out at idle. I had oil pressure and I used my drill to prime the pump to 50 psi with my dewalt drill just to be sure. I removed the starter to be sure it wasnt binding to the flywheel. All valves and pushrods are fine. I didn't open the engine yet because my frustration level is at astronomical levels. How could this have happened? I'm at a lose. Can anybody please provide insight? I rebuilt the engine with all clearances in spec.

Originally Posted by Grillhands

So I flushed the engine with 12qts of oil and took the car around for a nice drive about 2 days ago.

By your statement above, I'm assuming coolant got in your oil and circulated with the oil through the motor. Bearing surfaces and coolant do not get along, before I tried to spin the motor anymore, I would pull the pan and check the bearings.

Originally Posted by 36 sedan

By your statement above, I'm assuming coolant got in your oil and circulated with the oil through the motor. Bearing surfaces and coolant do not get along, before I tried to spin the motor anymore, I would pull the pan and check the bearings.

When the head gasket went I only drove it about 1/8 mile at 20mph. I made sure the oil circulated to sweep out any coolant. I guess it wasnt enough. I just cant wrap my head around that I drove it about 5 miles and nothing happened.