aluminum engine's prone to leaks

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A guy on Saturn fans says his engine does the same thing mine did. Leak a very very small amount of coolant from the head but not all the time. He replaced gasket and still did it. His engine builder told him it isn't uncommon to see an all aluminum engine do this. Have you guys ever heard or seen this first hand
 
Some aluminum engines have been subject to so-called "casting porosity" problems. Cadillac's old 4.1L/4.5L V-8s and their 4.6L Northstar come quickly to mind, as does some versions of Honda's R-series engine (like the R18 found in some late-model Civics). If it's an external leak, however, it's likely a failure of the headgasket, allowing coolant from a cooling jacket to seep to the outside. This particular problem is not exclusive to aluminum engines; I had a roommate in college with an '87 Monte Carlo SS and his 305 had that problem...external head gasket leak.
 
Originally Posted By: leeharvey418
Gotta think that an iron block/aluminum head would be far more prone to head gasket leaks...

Yes more challenging given different "thermal reaction" characteristics. In the case of the original post, the block and head of the Ecotec are aluminum with steel sleeved cylinders, at least in the one I practically rebuilt 3 years ago.
 
Absolute nonsense, as head gasket makers conquered all those problems years ago.

Leaks are almost always a result of assembly errors IMO, as I have had many engines run 200-300k miles and never leak a drop of anything...
 
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Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Absolute nonsense, as head gasket makers conquered all those problems years ago.

Leaks are almost always a result of assembly errors IMO, as I have had many engines run 200-300k miles and never leak a drop of anything...

Good point as I was not clear that the notion of "challenging" was related to assembly...
Kevin
 
I've never had a head gasket with my aluminum engine in the Integra, even at over 20 years and 210,000 miles. I'm not always gentle on the car, either. Granted, the coolant has been changed regularly.
 
The key to success with an aluminum engine is changing coolant often and sticking with the OE recommended coolant. You dump the coolant before the anti-corrosion additives are depleted and you won't have many problems. If you wait until over 100k...you will have issues.
 
Back in the old Chrysler 2.2 days,Chrysler stated that some "wicking" of coolant was normal.
 
my engine is all aluminum and it doesn't leak anything. The head is twisted in design then torqued down flat. Don't know if that helps at all.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Some aluminum engines have been subject to so-called "casting porosity" problems.


Saturn used lost foam casting. I was looking at getting head replaced on my 99 SL2 after service advisor said my head was weaping coolant. It was actually oil on my plugs from leaking cam cover gasket. Their solution was to put ginger tablet in coolant reservior. Made a mess in the resevior. Changing gasket curred the problem. I have heard of heads being replaced under warranty due to being too porous. I would just top off antifreeze and drive.

It is one of those gifts Saturn gave you like topping off motor oil every time you get gas per owner's manual.
smile.gif
 
When I worked at the stealership, Subarus had external coolant head gasket leaks and periodically needed fixing as regular maintenance. The VQ30 in the Maxima is all aluminum and I have not in 5 years of membership seen this problem on maxima.ORG, or in my own car.
 
It isn't that aluminum engines, and aluminum heads are a problem. The problem is engines not well designed.

The Ford Vulcan is the second most common engine that I find with blown head gaskets, and it has an iron block and head. The GM 3.1 and 3.4 are the worst, and those are aluminum heads on iron blocks. Somehow Nissan made 3.0L V6 engines during that time which weren't prone to HG problems, instead timing belts would be their downfall.
 
Originally Posted By: artificialist
It isn't that aluminum engines, and aluminum heads are a problem. The problem is engines not well designed.


This.
 
Originally Posted By: artificialist
It isn't that aluminum engines, and aluminum heads are a problem. The problem is engines not well designed.

The Ford Vulcan is the second most common engine that I find with blown head gaskets, and it has an iron block and head. The GM 3.1 and 3.4 are the worst, and those are aluminum heads on iron blocks. Somehow Nissan made 3.0L V6 engines during that time which weren't prone to HG problems, instead timing belts would be their downfall.




I gotta agree here.
Think about the 4.6 mod motor. Unless it's a Mach 1 they had aluminum heads on an iron block and I've personally seen trucks with in excess of 300k on the odo and there isn't a drop of oil leaking.
Abuse however can very quickly wrap a head and cause lots of issues though. Overheat one once or twice and it's time to consider a machine shop to either plane them flat again or find a low mile used replacement.
 
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