leaking cylinder head gasket

[Jochen1964]

Guys, would appreciate your thoughts and experiences on my current issue with coolant leaking.
I realized drops of green coolant dropping from the frame underneath the motor onto my garage floor. It drops from the oil pan onto the frame. Apparently the source is slightly above the oil filter, front left corner of the engine, between cylinder block and cylinder head. I have attached a photo but this is a difficult area to take a good pic. I have also consulted a good friend and we agree that we believe the Cylinder head gasket is leaking to the outside. I would appreciate your thoughts and experience here:
1) Is replacing the gasket the only alternative or did anybody try additives to re-soften and swelling the gasket?
2) If replacing is needed is this a complicated deal? I expect a camshaft control chain and all the settings, etc.
3) Would you replace the gasket on the other block as well once you dismantled everything for the leaking gasket.
Thanks for your thoughts and ideas around this. The car has a mileage of according to the odometer and the Carfax.

[Jochen1964]

ops, should read mileage of 83500

[Gary Lewis]

Jochen - A head gasket can leak, but I've never seen one leak to the outside.  It is possible, but I've not seen it.

However, what I suspect you have is a leak where the intake manifold fits to the head.  If I remember correctly (your signature doesn't say), you have a Windsor V8, either the 302/5.0L or the 351W/5.8L.  Those have "wet" intake manifolds, meaning that there's a coolant passage at the very front and very back that connects the heads to each other.

Many of the intake manifolds are aluminum, and the interface of dissimilar metals in the presence of a liquid causes electrolysis if the anti-freeze/coolant isn't replaced routinely.  The aluminum of the intake manifold is what gets stripped off, right around the opening to the head.  Finally enough gets stripped off that the gasket starts to leak.  And a leak at that interface can easily look like the head gasket itself is what is leaking.

There are dyes that you can add to the cooling system to help find leaks.  They fluoresce under black light and show up easily.  However, sometimes with an intake manifold leak it it really hard to tell because the leak follows the gasket down to the head, wicks around the head gasket, and appears somewhere else.

Since removing the intake manifold is one of the first steps to pulling a head, I'd be inclined to pull the intake manifold and inspect it.  That is far easier than pulling a head.  Once the intake is off I'll bet you see a lot of corrosion and pitting around the front and rear coolant ports.  If so, I'll bet that's the problem.

[Jochen1964]

Thanks for this advice Gary, really appreciated. Indeed I have  a 302 with EFI, will add to my signature. 

Will pull the manifold and check it out then first and will report back on my findings.

Thanks again

sent from my mobile device

Jochen Tillmann

[phone]

Am 20.05.2018 um 13:44 schrieb Gary Lewis [via Bullnose Enthusiasts] <[hidden email]>:

Jochen - A head gasket can leak, but I've never seen one leak to the outside.  It is possible, but I've not seen it.

However, what I suspect you have is a leak where the intake manifold fits to the head.  If I remember correctly (your signature doesn't say), you have a Windsor V8, either the 302/5.0L or the 351W/5.8L.  Those have "wet" intake manifolds, meaning that there's a coolant passage at the very front and very back that connects the heads to each other.

Many of the intake manifolds are aluminum, and the interface of dissimilar metals in the presence of a liquid causes electrolysis if the anti-freeze/coolant isn't replaced routinely.  The aluminum of the intake manifold is what gets stripped off, right around the opening to the head.  Finally enough gets stripped off that the gasket starts to leak.  And a leak at that interface can easily look like the head gasket itself is what is leaking.

There are dyes that you can add to the cooling system to help find leaks.  They fluoresce under black light and show up easily.  However, sometimes with an intake manifold leak it it really hard to tell because the leak follows the gasket down to the head, wicks around the head gasket, and appears somewhere else.

Since removing the intake manifold is one of the first steps to pulling a head, I'd be inclined to pull the intake manifold and inspect it.  That is far easier than pulling a head.  Once the intake is off I'll bet you see a lot of corrosion and pitting around the front and rear coolant ports.  If so, I'll bet that's the problem.

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