Hole in Block

[erniebrown]

I just returned from the Music City Studebaker show. . . it was fun and great and met some new friends. . . I returned late at night on Saturday and parked the car till today and took it to be serviced. I had a couple of loose wires that I was schooled on where they went.

When I pulled into the shop and stopped the motor lifted the hood. . noticed coolant on the ground. . never before. . . so we lifted the car, and discovered a small hole the size of a pencil where coolant was escaping from the lower part of the motor in the block. . .

Here is the temporary idea and plan. . we start tomorrow. . . self tapping screw with a rubber washer. . . does this even have a chance. . .

Advice please,. . if you know me I drive my car everywhere. . . it ain't the best. . but it is the best Studebaker I own. . . it's the only one. . thank you

[Bob Andrews]

self tapping screw with a rubber washer. . . does this even have a chance. . .

Sorry- no, not a chance.

First, you have to determine exactly why it's leaking. If it's a core plug, replace. If it's a hole in the cast iron, it can be welded with nickel rod. More info, and a picture would help.

[erniebrown]

I had that feeling. . . I have a friend who is a welder. . will check on the nickel rod. . . no mechanic here. . . but I read a lot and nothing said it would work. . so my official word. . . is STOP!

[t walgamuth]

I had a leak in a cast iron radiator at my vintage building. I drilled it tapped it and installed a pipe thread plug....then next summer I replaced the radiator. You might do something similar to get home then do something more permanent. I think If you can get decent thread a pipe plug should last a while though.

[erniebrown]

Thanks. . . I am just trying to get as much info so I can process through this. . . first major challenge except for the almost total destruction of the car in a tornado. . . this will be done and we will getter dun fer sure!

[jclary]

Don't be too discouraged. Depending on just where the hole is...the situation might not be as dire as it sounds. Using nickel to weld and patch holes in cast iron engine blocks is a technique that has been around for years. Early in the development of water-cooled tractor engines and unreliable anti-freeze...cracks due to frozen engine blocks was fairly common. After a hard winter, it wasn't unusual for welders to be pretty busy patching tractor engines in time for spring plowing.

Hopefully, you can find a experienced welder that can fix you up. I have a welder. I have observed cast iron being welded with nickel, but have not tried it myself. Let us know how it works out. Good luck.

[Kurt]

Cast iron can be brazed with success also.

[JoeHall]

Hi Ernie,
First, I'd be curious as to how the hole came to exist. Maybe from the tornado, who knows. At any rate, it can likely be welded, hopefully while in the car. Again hopefully, it does not have cracks radiating from it. How it will need to be repaired will depend largely on location, cracks/no cracks, and accessibility.
That car is tooo pretty to not fix, and I am sure you will. This is a piece of cake, compared to what you musta went through in getting her back in shape after the tornado

[jimmijim8]

Way back in the day my dad brazed over a crack in a tractor engine block. Cleaned/prepped the cracked area down with a carbide burr and put the heat and brass rod to the block. It worked. cheers jimmijim

[erniebrown]

Don't be too discouraged. Depending on just where the hole is...the situation might not be as dire as it sounds. Using nickel to weld and patch holes in cast iron engine blocks is a technique that has been around for years. Early in the development of water-cooled tractor engines and unreliable anti-freeze...cracks due to frozen engine blocks was fairly common. After a hard winter, it wasn't unusual for welders to be pretty busy patching tractor engines in time for spring plowing.

Hopefully, you can find a experienced welder that can fix you up. I have a welder. I have observed cast iron being welded with nickel, but have not tried it myself. Let us know how it works out. Good luck.

Thanks John. . . it appears that the weld is the PERFECT WAY. . . I typically don't get to discouraged, this one is over my pay scale. . . so will have to be farmed out. . thank you again.

[erniebrown]

Hi Ernie,
First, I'd be curious as to how the hole came to exist. Maybe from the tornado, who knows. At any rate, it can likely be welded, hopefully while in the car. Again hopefully, it does not have cracks radiating from it. How it will need to be repaired will depend largely on location, cracks/no cracks, and accessibility.
That car is tooo pretty to not fix, and I am sure you will. This is a piece of cake, compared to what you musta went through in getting her back in shape after the tornado

JoeHall, I hit a trucker tire coming home. . just didn't see it. . left late from the dinner. . .wondered if that was the culprit. . it absolutely looks like it was a hole that just rusted from the inside out. . funny. . . it was leaking a bit at first. . we lifted up and was rubbing around and a small fleck of something came off the block. . . and she began to pour out. . nice bright clean coolant. . there doesn't seem to be other cracks. . and I will post as I go along.

[erniebrown]

Way back in the day my dad brazed over a crack in a tractor engine block. Cleaned/prepped the cracked area down with a carbide burr and put the heat and brass rod to the block. It worked. cheers jimmijim

Jimmijim. . . I am guessing at this point. . but that looks like where we are going. . . thanks for the email!

[Flashback]

AS Bob said, FIRST, identify the problem. A picture here would help a lot.

[64studeavanti]

For a couple of years, the Cummins 5.9 had a problem with cracked blocks. Here is a fix. Probably non-CASO.

http://www.locknstitch.com/cummins_diesel_engine_crack_repair_reinforcement.htm

[Bob Andrews]

Still waiting for a better description and picture. We want to help, but we can't guess with no real information. Where exactly is the hole? Is it a metal core plug? Is it a hole in the cast iron? You still haven't clarified that.

I can't think of anything externally that could hit hard enough to make a pencil sized hole without breaking out a piece. And I don't think anything could rub hard enough and long enough to wear a hole through cast iron. If it's a hole from the inside out, you are probably at the beginning of several of these occurrences.

It's definitely leaning towards a core plug on what little description you've given. But again, we can't know or help until you give us something to go on.