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?

 

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.

 

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.

Misconception...they are not freeze plugs, they are core plugs. They originate from the casting process, to remove the core sand from the interior of the cast parts.
I personally have never heard of one popping out, but I have heard of many cracked blocks.

 

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.

 

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

'93 V6 Sedan. Stock.

 

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).

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Man that sucks

 

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.

.

 

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... :headbang:


Thanks for the help

 

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.

 

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

 

This product (see link below), or one of its related products, may be an option here. I would consider it temporary, but if temporary means a few years - that's not bad at all, is it?

http://www.belzona.com/products/1000/1111.aspx

 

Because of daily expansion and contraction of the block any epoxy fix would be in the temporary repair area.

Over 30 years I have used the Bar's brand for coolant leaks, probably only 5 or 6 times though.
Not once have I ever had a problem with heater core or rad clogging because of the Bar's.

I have fixed cars that people used stop leak products on that did have clogged rads and cores, but this was NOT caused by the stop leak product.
The cause of the clogging, and the leak, was because cooling system was corroding from the inside out, lol, they never changed coolant or flushed the system, so clogging was already well under way before stop leak was used.

This is just my personal opinion and observation.
I think the "myth" of the clogging is from the general idea that something that clogs a leak must then clog any smaller passages, which is true but heater cores and rads do not have small passages, they are large in comparison to a leak passage in the system.
The "myth" is repeated often and reinforced by mechanics or "wanna be" mechanics because it reinforces their roll as a service provider.
Bar's does NOT fix the leak, it stops the leak until it can be repaired properly.

 

well i replaced my camry wagon with a 2001 bmw 325xi w/ leather and full options. this is a great car but i miss my camry :disappoin

having a manual is nice tho...

 

Man I bet the maintenance will eat you up compared to a Camry!

 

... try welding it up

You don't have to have a lot of weld strength, just enough surface integrity to seal the leak. I would think it would be worth a try.

Here is a link to some cast iron weld rods. Maybe a local welding shop can help you out.
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-u...c.com/en-us/support/welding-how-to/Pages/stick-electrodes-cast-iron-detail.aspx

Here is a link to some cast iron welding repair techniques ... Maybe you could contact the company mentioned here.:

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/support/welding-how-to/Pages/welding-cast-iron-detail.aspx

... at the end of that page is a method using studs at the crack terminations, which are welded over after placement.

If you are not versed in welding, find a local shop.

 

i sold the camry as a mechanics special.


insurance on the bmw is actually 5 bucks a month cheaper, i can only assume it's because it's awd has traction control/stability control and abs.