how common is my cracked block?

[akhoundog]

95 wagon /w 5sfe and automatic.
131k




I've had a ongoing leak on the backside of the waterpump housing, i took it to my trusted shop and they replaced the pump housing, waterpump and t-belt. after about ~800 miles i noticed the pesky leak again. I dropped it off a week ago and just got a call saying that they've found a crack in the block by using die in the coolant. The leak isn't bad but it does leak a couple table spoons over night. I use this car on longer road trips here in alaska and it taking a dump out of town in the winter can be dangerous. I'm weighing my options which are basically replacing the engine or replacing the car. This is really sucks because I'v treated this car EXTREMELY well since I purchased it from the first owner at 60k.

I think a cracked block is odd, is it?

Can a cracked block be repaired?

How is the longevity of the automatic transmission? I'v changed it's oil every year with synthetic fluid (new filter every other year).

Does anyone know of a good place to order used engine? I checked every junkyard locally and there's nothing for this car.

Thanks

[71Corolla]

A cracked block is very uncommon, I would get a second opinion. Really the only way a block ends up cracked is coolant freezing, did that happen?

[akhoundog]

Highly unlikely, shortly after purchasing it i had them install a "T-belt kit" which included the tensioner, waterpump, and t-belt. they also did a coolant flush with fresh coolant.

the car spends most of it's time here in anchorage which rarely goes below -15

coolant is usually good to around -35.

the car was used once at big lake at around -40 but i started it every few hours since there was no power there to plug in the heater. however if the coolant did freeze isnt that what the freeze plugs are for? the leak didnt start till long after that as well.


i may get a second opinion.

[93celicaconv]

I also would suggest getting a 2nd opinion. Have you had this ongoing leak since you bought it at 60k? You said it was ongoing, just wanted to find out if it pre-existed your ownership, where maybe the previous owner did allow a freeze-up.

There installation of the new water pump may have been a little sloppy and it is a lot of work to take it all apart again to get the water pump off. The mechanic may be trying to avoid doing all this additional work for free, even if he is at fault (didn't clean the gasket surfaces properly, or had a problem with the installation of the gasket).

It would be far less costly to get a 2nd opinion on the source of the leak.

[ZAchole]

+1^
At the very least, have him show you the crack.

'93 V6 Sedan. Stock.

[zzyzzx]

I would also want to see the leak. In fact post pics here if you can.

I suspect it might be fixable, but have no personal experience with that. I doubt that stop leak would work here since it leaks too much to fix that. I would look into welding. I'm also guessing that in your area it might be easier to find someone with experience with this (at least when compared to around where I live).

[Chris Crash]

A crack is rare.
But if it is a small crack, it can be welded shut. However, cast iron is very hard to weld so you'll need to find somebody good.

[RonR]

At only 18psi I think it could be fixed without welding, a good epoxy should close it up.

Never heard of a 5sfe block cracking unless a rod came thru the side.
Could have been a casting fault but........only showing up now would be odd.
And if its behind the water pump housing I would think a hard freeze would have effected other things first, freezing goes from the outside in.

[akhoundog]

I just picked up the car and talked with the mechanic who wrenched on it, he owns 3 of these cars and says they are one of the most reliable cars they have enter their shop. he said that they've never a cracked block on this engine and were pretty blown away.

I may not get a second option after seeing the crack, it starts where you see it in the picture below and travels up to the freeze plug. It has some bars stop leak in it now which is working but i think it's only a matter of time before it lets loose.

[93celicaconv]

It seems pretty amazing that the block would crack like that (can only be from being frozen if coolant is coming from there, as that must be part of the block water jacket) without first popping out a freeze plug. Pretty amazing. But that is the only explanation - a very significant freeze event.

Bars Stop Leak will likely also work to seal coolant flow through your heater core and radiator, to a degree also. Just so you are aware. But you really don't have much of an option at this point with this engine.

[heartdisease]

Man that sucks

[ajkalian]

Ugh.

There's not much you can do with that. Someone mentioned that it's a cast iron block? If so, there's little chance to weld it, actually braze it. Cast Iron can't be welded in the traditional sense. If the block is aluminum, then maybe you have a shot at it. But the guy with the TIG torch had better know what he is doing.

If there is enough metal around the crack you might consider drilling and tapping holes at the very end of the crack if you can gain access. The drilled hole will stop the crack from getting any larger, and relieve any stress present in the block at the point where the crack happened. Then with the holes tapped with say a 1/4-20 thread, or whatever the metric equivalent might be, you could fashion a plate, say 1/2" wide by 2" long,or however long the crack is, out of 1/8" steel. Then get some head gasket material, double it up, add some gasket sealer, apply it to all the surfaces, and bolt it in place.

All of this will depend on if you can gain access with a drill and tap. If you can't get in there, then I'm afraid you will either have to live with the leak, and hope the crack doesn't get any bigger.

.

[akhoundog]

Yeah I really don't like using any type of stop leak in my coolant because of stop leak's nature. I'm probably going to drive it as is into January and get a newer car. I have seen the leak progress over the last year or so and it's definitely leaking more and more. This sucks because I took good care of this car expecting to get 2-300k from it without major work, probably would have if not for this...


Thanks for the help

[71Corolla]

ajkalian has exactly the right idea on how to repair that, smart. No guarantee it will work, but there is a decent chance it will. If it was me I would attempt such a repair, you can't rely on stop leak, at some point it will fail and maybe leave you stranded. I know guys that drive big rigs up north and have attempted to weld cracked iron blocks, has never held up. The weld either fails, the block cracks beside it, or both.

[LE PEW]

What do you all suppose his chances are of cleaning the area well and using something like JB Weld on it successfully?