Coolant passages question

[R_W_B]

(1988 Chevy C1500, Silverado, 5.7L - 350ci, TBI, Truck)

Novice backyard mechanic with some questions. Appreciate any input.

I pulled my heads to send off for a valve job. I notice coolant coming out of the bottom row of head bolts when I removed them. Now with the heads off I still have coolant standing in these holes. After I scraped off all the head gasket I shop vac'd all the gasket material up and in the process sucked about 1/4" of coolant out of these block holes (head bolt holes). I did not notice any rust on the bolt shanks.

Is this normal to have coolant in these bolt holes ? Seems like if it was normal the bolt shanks would have shown some rust ?

If it is normal, do I need to bust a freeze plug out to drain it down a little before I install the head and head bolts ?

Do I need to put Blue Loctite on the Head bolts when re-installing heads ?

If I put blue loctite on them will this coolant dillute it ?

 

[Tempted]

Just sounds like the heads drained to me. But make certain to get ALL of the coolant out of the bolt holes before you re-install the heads. I have seen that many times, people do head jobs and don't dry out the holes. The coolant heats, swells and then cools and compresses. Then ya get a leaking head gasket.

 

[1997chevydriver]

If I remember correctly when I did my head gaskets those bolt holes go into the cooling passages for the block......but I'm not totally positive

 

[DRAGGIN95]

I would use compressed air and blow the bolt holes out, then carb cleaner in them and 1 more round of air, they should then be nice and dry, also I would look for a thread sealant for the head bolt's, not thread locker. I use permatex aviation thread sealer, it look's like black tar and seal's threads up very well.

 

[R_W_B]

Just sounds like the heads drained to me. But make certain to get ALL of the coolant out of the bolt holes before you re-install the heads. I have seen that many times, people do head jobs and don't dry out the holes. The coolant heats, swells and then cools and compresses. Then ya get a leaking head gasket.

If I remember correctly when I did my head gaskets those bolt holes go into the cooling passages for the block......but I'm not totally positive

I would use compressed air and blow the bolt holes out, then carb cleaner in them and 1 more round of air, they should then be nice and dry, also I would look for a thread sealant for the head bolt's, not thread locker. I use permatex aviation thread sealer, it look's like black tar and seal's threads up very well.

Thanks for the replies, I will make sure I get all of that out.

As a follow up question, this coolant thing. I drained my radiator and disconnected both upper and lower radiator hoses, and the heater hose coming out of the intake manifold, prior to disassembling the engine. However when I pulled my intake manifold some coolant still ran out. I surmise this may because my model has the rear coolant ports of the heads/intake manifold blocked off with the gasket cover.

I noticed some of coolant from the intake manifold ran into the head intake ports during removal of the intake. I was pulling the heads anyhow so I didn't sweat it that much. But what if I had not planned to pull the heads, I suspect that coolant could have been a problem sitting in the cylinder.

Are there any tricks or techinics folks use to alleviate these coolant leakeage issues?

 

[DRAGGIN95]

What I like to do is remove the block drain plug and the I run compressed air in to the intake after the thermostat and neck have been removed via the thermostat opening, doing that get's most of the coolant out of the intake, not every drop but it helps.

 

[R_W_B]

What I like to do is remove the block drain plug and the I run compressed air in to the intake after the thermostat and neck have been removed via the thermostat opening, doing that get's most of the coolant out of the intake, not every drop but it helps.

Well that sounds cool. I did not know there was a drain plug. Would you happen to know where I should look for it ? Is it a square plug maybe ?

Also I'm curious, I'm not getting any email notices on replies to this thread. I checked just now and I have my Default Thread Suscription Mode set to Instant using email. I also checked that I had my email spelled correctly. Can't find what's wrong there.

 

[DRAGGIN95]

Yeah technically there are 2 block drain plug's, the knock sensor is screwed in to one of them and the other is on the opposite side of the block on the driver's side of the engine, and honestly I don't remember right off hand it's a hex drain plug or if it's 3/8 drive type. I don't know about your email notification, I have mine set to on as well I have never gotten a notification yet on any thread, but I get them for pm's so I am unsure.

 

[Casey916]

question when removing the water pump do any of the bolts go threw coolant passages.if so how should I proceed

 

[east302]

Yes, there are but I don’t remember how many. Just clean and dry out the threads. GM calls for a thread sealant (12346004) but here’s the Permatex equivalency table. Manual excerpt is for a 98.

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