Head Gasket Leaks Continued

[SuperHawk]

Earlier today I posted an inquiry entitled "Head Gasket Leaks?" Since that post, I've pulled the rocker arm assemblies and the valley cover. I see antifreeze in the valley -- maybe 2 or 3 teaspoons worth. There's antifreeze gurgling up through the head bolt holes that are for the big rocker arm assembly head bolts when I put air pressure into the spark plug holes.

This all makes me think head gasket problems. The engine shop that did the machine work decked the block and milled the heads, so I'm pretty sure there's not a warpage issue. And the engine has not overheated since I fired it up 2 weeks ago and have subsequently put about 300 miles on the car. The shop says they did use a sealant on the thin head gaskets.

Does this sound like a head gasket sealing problem to all of you?

If so, do you think a simple re-torquing might solve the problem, or am I gonna have to pull the heads and install new gaskets?

Please give me your thoughts.


Thank you,
Larry

[Mike Van Veghten]

See my note on your first post.

Mike

[Bud]

Something is seriously wrong as there should never be any coolant leaking into the inside of the engine. I recommend removing both heads to check for cracks, warpage and rubbish somewhere in between the heads, gaskets and block. It's possible that there is debris in the bottom of the bolt holes in the block causing the head bolts not to torque properly causing an under torque on the heads. I agree with Mike, be sure that everything is spotless and the bolts are lightly lubed, use a three step sequence when tightening the head bolts, use the proper torque sequence as shown in the shop manual and check the torque a couple of times after reaching the final torque spec. Also change the engine oil because antifreeze can damage bearings. Bud