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I bought a 5.3 from the junkyard for a ls swap project. Anyways, I was cleaning the block to prepare for new head gaskets just cause I wanted to replace them while engine was out. Well I noticed this, did I just waste my money on this motor?
Cast iron, so welding is possible, but tricky (Ni rod and TIG needed) and then post machining of the block = cost prohibitive
consequences of running it seem to be limited to extra coolant pressure and overheating: assuming the fire ring won't seal completely. Best case, it doesn't leak anything. Expected outcome: small coolant leak at that head. Worst case, over heating and overpressurized coolant
welding is the proper repair. There might be some product out there you can gunk on it, but none of those ever seem to work that well and they damage heater cores and radiators more often than not. Peening it is out of the question because sealing surface.
If its a budget drag car run it til she pops. If it's a resto mod that you don't want to have issues with, replace that block.
I loaded it up and took it back. Long story short, he doesn't have a motor right now to give me but said he should have something in by Monday that he'll let me hear running first before he pulls it. He was pretty pissed, as was I but fair is fair damnit
I have a gen 3 6 liter block cracked in the exact same fashion. I dont know why or what caused it. It's such a rough core bore wise I am just going to haul it to the dump one day lol.
04-19-2018, 02:56 PM
Is this engine junk?
