ARP Stud Issue

coon smile

coon smile

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Oct 25, 2007
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last night I was under the hood an noticed that there was a "watery" substance bubbling out b/n the top of ARP head stud and nut...i cant remember the exact stud off the top of my head without looking at the engine, but it was one that was outside the valve cover on the passenger side near cylinder 3 or 4...cant determine if it was oily water or oil itself. It was black in appearance but not viscous like oil.

studs were out this past fall (installed oringed head) and not bottom tapped...they have been retorqued 3 times EA to 140ft-lbs

i know of atleast one person that has experienced this before but went away after another retorque...

should i be concerned? what causes this? how can this be fixed?

thanks

kyle
 
coon smile said:
last night I was under the hood an noticed that there was a "watery" substance bubbling out b/n the top of ARP head stud and nut...i cant remember the exact stud off the top of my head without looking at the engine, but it was one that was outside the valve cover on the passenger side near cylinder 3 or 4...cant determine if it was oily water or oil itself. It was black in appearance but not viscous like oil.

studs were out this past fall (installed oringed head) and not bottom tapped...they have been retorqued 3 times EA to 140ft-lbs

i know of atleast one person that has experienced this before but went away after another retorque...

should i be concerned? what causes this? how can this be fixed?

thanks

kyle
Click to expand...


I would take them up to 150 ft/lbs and see what happens then before you do anything else. Would be helpful to know exactly what kind of fluild its leaking though.
 
coon smile said:
last night I was under the hood an noticed that there was a "watery" substance bubbling out b/n the top of ARP head stud and nut...i cant remember the exact stud off the top of my head without looking at the engine, but it was one that was outside the valve cover on the passenger side near cylinder 3 or 4...cant determine if it was oily water or oil itself. It was black in appearance but not viscous like oil.

studs were out this past fall (installed oringed head) and not bottom tapped...they have been retorqued 3 times EA to 140ft-lbs

i know of atleast one person that has experienced this before but went away after another retorque...

should i be concerned? what causes this? how can this be fixed?

thanks

kyle
Click to expand...


those studs outside the valve cover on that side are in the water jacket...i put a dab of RTV on them before screwing into the head...never leaked on mine.
 
Just for reference on which stud it was....
coonsmile.jpg

http://www.firepunk.com/gallery/lavon/coonsmile

Lavon
 
I don't know if it helps but I was told that CR guys, because of their head gasket, pull one head bolt at a time and replace it with a stud.
 
well i talked to someone today that i consider very knowledgable when it comes to diesels as well as other things...

his general theory is that i either have a cracked head or blown gasket...

lets hear your opinions
 
coon smile said:
well i talked to someone today that i consider very knowledgable when it comes to diesels as well as other things...

his general theory is that i either have a cracked head or blown gasket...

lets hear your opinions
Click to expand...


pull the stud, clean it, put some RTV on it and reinstall/torque. give it a little time to set up then drive it and see if it starts leaking again.

do you have any other signs of a cracked head or blown gasket? oil in coolant? coolant in oil? i rtv'd those 6 studs on mine because i was told by someone here, or it was in the instructions. I know if you look at the studs when they come...those 6 are longer than the rest of them
 
coon smile said:
well i talked to someone today that i consider very knowledgable when it comes to diesels as well as other things...

his general theory is that i either have a cracked head or blown gasket...

lets hear your opinions
Click to expand...

Generally I would have to agree. Of the 4 dodge pickups I've had, none of the studs went through the water jacket. When I lost the head gasket on my 02 (stock gasket, with studs), it had a stud doing the same thing. It wasn't the only thing it was doing, but it was bubbling out of one stud. It also had a water leak at the front of the head (normal place).

I would try to verify the head gasket as much as possible though. It would really suck to pull it apart and it not be the problem.

Paul
 
Bubbling pretty much means you have pressurized air pushing through the coolant system. If it was just water it probably wouldn't be bubbling, I am saying it is water and combustion pressure.
 
i was told to get the truck to operating temp, turn off truck, take radiator cap off, start truck back up, and check if the radiator fluid is bubbling...

there was no bubbling there...

I have noticed a gargling noise upon start up from the heater core also
 
paulb said:
Generally I would have to agree. Of the 4 dodge pickups I've had, none of the studs went through the water jacket. When I lost the head gasket on my 02 (stock gasket, with studs), it had a stud doing the same thing. It wasn't the only thing it was doing, but it was bubbling out of one stud. It also had a water leak at the front of the head (normal place).

I would try to verify the head gasket as much as possible though. It would really suck to pull it apart and it not be the problem.

Paul
Click to expand...

i did not see at leaks anywhere at the head...

i really dont know how else to verify gasket without pulling the head
 
zstroken said:
Bubbling pretty much means you have pressurized air pushing through the coolant system. If it was just water it probably wouldn't be bubbling, I am saying it is water and combustion pressure.
Click to expand...

im not exactly sure what to take from this??
 
coon smile said:
i was told to get the truck to operating temp, turn off truck, take radiator cap off, start truck back up, and check if the radiator fluid is bubbling...

there was no bubbling there...

I have noticed a gargling noise upon start up from the heater core also
Click to expand...

So u watched it bubble while it was running? I always have heard the gurgle in my truck.
Brandon
 
getblown5.9 said:
pull the stud, clean it, put some RTV on it and reinstall/torque. give it a little time to set up then drive it and see if it starts leaking again.

do you have any other signs of a cracked head or blown gasket? oil in coolant? coolant in oil? i rtv'd those 6 studs on mine because i was told by someone here, or it was in the instructions. I know if you look at the studs when they come...those 6 are longer than the rest of them
Click to expand...

i heard not put rtv on the studs b/c its not good for the block and threads
 
i just cant see the head gasket being blown??

i can count the number of times this truck has seen 50psi on one hand since my 3rd retorque last fall. i have never even been hard on the truck
 
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