Dang water sleeve leak

cfelton · #1 11-17-2008, 10:07 AM

I replaced the head on my 170 mercruiser awhile back and last summer the 1 1/4 hose nipple (water sleeve) started to leak.I've tried silicone, permatex, JB Weld, Marine Tex, and 2 industrial sealants I got from the mill. Each time I see it leaking I remove the nipple, clean it really good and swell it till it has to be driven into the hole. Its a press fit. I called Clearwater Cylinder Head Co. where I got the head from and they said to use no.2 permatex and it should hold but it always starts back leaking again. Yall got any suggestions other than removal and welding it up. I can get a new water sleeve as they call it but I dont see anything wrong with this one. Help!!!

spareparts · #2 11-17-2008, 12:52 PM

can you get a pipe tap in that hole? Is it deep enough to cut threads before it hits the water jacket wall. If you can get a tap in it, thread it and replace that pres fit with a threaded hose nipple

cfelton · #3 11-17-2008, 09:04 PM

Yep Spare. You hit the nail on the head. I called Clearwater back today and they said the same thing. Pat at clearwater said they have had alot of trouble with those press fit fittings leaking. They have since stopped the use of those type fittings and have started tapping a 1 inch NPT hole into the head and use a 1 inch pipe plug type fitting in it. I ain't real crazy about tapping into my cast iron head on the motor but I might have to. I can cut a 1 inch tap back so it don't bottom out and coat it with grease to catch the shavings. Im trying a different type sealant on it now, if this dont hold I'm gonna tap it out . I'm sure the pipe plug deal will hold!! Thanks Spare!

cfelton · #4 01-12-2009, 06:02 PM

After trying a number of very good sealants and alot of patience I gave up on the idea of the press fit ever holding. Every time after a few weeks it always started to leak. So I snatched it out AGAIN and proceded to tap threads into my head. The cast iron head only has a 3/16 in. thick water jacket and is barely enough to get a thread and a half taped into it. I cut a 1in. nipple down to 1 1/4 in. long leaving about 3 threads and welded a thick washer onto it where the threads tapered out. I used a die grinder with a sanding pad to prepare the mating surface on the head. I wrapped the threads with teflon tape and cut a gasket to fit over the pipe nipple and to fit up to the washer, sealing it to the mating surface on the head. It works like a hollow drain plug on an oil pan. It worked PERFECT! Sealed great with no leaks and I dont have to worry about it blowing out EVER!! Problem solved!

spareparts · #5 01-12-2009, 07:09 PM

garagenc · #6 01-13-2009, 12:47 AM

Good to hear "C", something I was going to suggest is: sometimes when you heat and cool something a couple of times it actually shrinks and does not resume the exact size it was new. What we used to do at the Navy yard was freeze the already small piece (using dry ice or a freeze coupling) this is a wrap that has a liquid in it that is cooled by a machine. We would wrap these around pipe that we couldn't drain. It will freeze hyd oil solid. We would freeze the piece and then install it in the hole looose and then put heat to it and from being froze and then heated it would swell and seal and normally not leak again.

But anyway glad to hear you got it.