new edelbrock intake problem water in oil

[jerthemost]

I have a 68 mustang stock 289, auto tranny, came with 2v. I installed an edelbrock 2121 performer 289 intake with an edelbrock 1403 500 cfm 4v. I used all edelbrock recommended parts, gaskets, bolts, sealers, gascasench etc. I have installed the intake 4 times now and think I still have water getting into my oil. A couple of these changes were because mechanics torque wrench was bad and one time we broke a bolt and next time stripped threads in one hole of the heads. The third time we got water leaking into oil so had to do for the forth time. But this time I’m still not sure but what I have water leaking into the oil because my water level keeps going down and after 3 oil changes I still have slightly white oil. I did radiator leak test, set at 15 lbs. and it leaks down a couple pounds slowly after maybe 20 minutes with engine off. I’ll drive it down he road and back one time and water level is fine. Next time it’s low a little on water. I tightened bolts this last time by hand instead of using torque wrench. I retightened a quarter turn after running awhile. I always tightened using edelbrock suggested sequence.

My problem is that I cannot now say positively that I have a leak. I’m paranoid after all the problems now. Does anyone have any suggestions how to test for leak for sure? Or any suggestions otherwise. I am at the end of my rope and about ready to put old intake and 2v back on. Also the new intake has front 2 water ports blocked off is this correct? Oh forgot to mention that one of the takeoffs was because I had a defective bolt set from edelbrock one bolt was shorter than other 11. So much for quality control. I really don’t think I want to try edelbrock again in the future.

All thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Pony66]

By front water ports blocked, hopefully that means the ones closest to the firewall. Did you use sealer around the water ports nearest the dizzy? If not that then your manifold could have a crack in the water jacket. If not that it could be a head gasket. Any white smoke out the pipes? Did you burp all the air out of the engine? The milky oil does not sound good.

 

[jerthemost]

water ports

it is the 2 water ports on the front nearest radiator that are blanked off. they just are not milled into the intake at all. only the 2 nearest the firewall are open. maybe this is normal for edelbrock but seems to me i should have all ports usuable. i am especially curious about this after getting defective bolts.

my question or concern about white oil is because it could just be some contamminated oil left over from previous leak due to bad bolt or could be new contamination. i am trying to figure out how to be sure which it is. it let it set overnight and had to add almost a gallon of water which is not definitive but does not sound good. i don't think a cracked head is the problem because all was fine until the intake carb changout plus i have no vapor, water or smoke from exhaust.

so if we assume maybe an intake leak still here is a question....... i am paranoid now about tightening bolts especially by hand so can i get a new torque wrench and retighten all bolts with intake as is or do i have to remove it and start all over again? if i can leave installed can or should i loosen all bolts then retighten with torque wrench like starting from scratch or just tighten from where they are right now? and should i tighten in stages like maybe 10 ft lbs first time then 15 then 20? edelbrock says 15 to 20 for finale tightening.

 

[jerthemost]

sealer

i put gascacinch on all metal surfaces and both sides of gasket then thin bead of ultra black on metal and gasket sides around water ports. that was as per edelbrock verbal instructions, not in written instructions. even put sealer around blanked water ports. used edelbrock gaskets

 

[D.Hearne]

it is the 2 water ports on the front nearest radiator that are blanked off. they just are not milled into the intake at all. only the 2 nearest the firewall are open. maybe this is normal for edelbrock but seems to me i should have all ports usuable. i am especially curious about this after getting defective bolts. .

You've answered the question. The coolant exits the engine thru those two front coolant ports. If they're not there, you have a defective intake. Take it off and call Edelbrock ASAP. I'm sure they'll be happy to make things right for you. I would also upgrade to the Performer RPM while you're at it. The RPM works just as well as the Performer 289 off idle, but gives you more flow up top and allows for future engine upgrades.

 

[D.Hearne]

As for bolting it down in the future, start in the middle bolts, then work your way outwards, criss-crossing side to side. And torque em all down to 25 ft/lbs.Once you reach 25 ft/lbs, go back every few minutes and go over them again till the gaskets settle.

 

[jerthemost]

update on edelbrock intake leaking problem

68 mustang coupe stock 289 came with 2 v. installed edelbrock 2121 and 1403 500 cfm used all edelbrock parts, bolts, studs, gaskets gacacinch ultra black sealer. followed all instructions to a tee. have now taken off and re-installed intake 4 times and still leaking water into oil. put sealer around water ports on both sides of gaskets. torqued bolts per instructions with torque wrench except 4th time did by feel. folllowed edels torque sequence. first 2 times mechanics wrench was defective and over torued plus had a defecttive bolt set. came sealed pack from edel with one bolt 3/8 shorter than other 11. this caused a problem and leak i think.

4th time all went ok but still leaking bad. what to do now? send intake back to edelbrock or what? and so all know front water ports come blocked off and should be or at least old manifold was also blocked. i guess it only uses back 2 ports.

 

[rbohm]

As for bolting it down in the future, start in the middle bolts, then work your way outwards, criss-crossing side to side. And torque em all down to 25 ft/lbs.Once you reach 25 ft/lbs, go back every few minutes and go over them again till the gaskets settle.

i have found that works fine with the stock cast iron intake, but with an aluminum intake, the better way to go is to torque the corners first in a criss cross pattern, then torque the rest of the bolts from the middle out, according to edelbrock.

as to the op's problem, if the front ports are blocked off, then you have a bad intake as the coolant flows to the radiator through there. another thing to check is have the heads or block, or both, been resurfaced? if so then likely there is a mismatch between the intake and heads that is causing the leak.

 

[D.Hearne]

68 mustang coupe stock 289 came with 2 v. installed edelbrock 2121 and 1403 500 cfm used all edelbrock parts, bolts, studs, gaskets gacacinch ultra black sealer. followed all instructions to a tee. have now taken off and re-installed intake 4 times and still leaking water into oil. put sealer around water ports on both sides of gaskets. torqued bolts per instructions with torque wrench except 4th time did by feel. folllowed edels torque sequence. first 2 times mechanics wrench was defective and over torued plus had a defecttive bolt set. came sealed pack from edel with one bolt 3/8 shorter than other 11. this caused a problem and leak i think.

4th time all went ok but still leaking bad. what to do now? send intake back to edelbrock or what? and so all know front water ports come blocked off and should be or at least old manifold was also blocked. i guess it only uses back 2 ports.

Did you not read what both I and rbohm posted ? Or just chose to ignore it ? Based on your desciption of your intake, it's obviously defective. But you're free to continue doing it over and over again, hoping for different results

 

[horseballz]

jerthemost and All,

jerthemost wrote: "and so all know front water ports come blocked off and should be or at least old manifold was also blocked. i guess it only uses back 2 ports." Something doesn't sound right here. A pic or two would be a plus. Most after market aluminum manifolds for Small Block Fords have the REAR coolant ports from the heads blocked off and all have the FRONT ports from the heads open! Look at this and click the pause when you get to the port side:
Edelbrock 2121 - Edelbrock Performer Intake Manifolds - Overview - SummitRacing.com

I'm Confused?
Gene

 

[jerthemost]

water ports

sorry for the confusion i was misstaken about which water ports are blocked. the ports are right. one of you said heads may have been resurfaced, how can i tell? and if they had been resurfaced would i not have had same problem with the original cast iron intake? i will be pulling the intake back off today or tomorrow and check with a straight edge for warpping. i have a new intake on order and will change it one more time when it comes in if i still have a problem after that i guess i will have to put on new heads or sell the car or put old 2v back on. real bummer.

 

[D.Hearne]

sorry for the confusion i was misstaken about which water ports are blocked. the ports are right. one of you said heads may have been resurfaced, how can i tell? and if they had been resurfaced would i not have had same problem with the original cast iron intake?

Not necessarily. Now two intakes are exactly alike as far as the dimensions. Long story short: I've had my milled (by .060) Canfield heads on two different engines now, with the last combo, the Vic Jr I ran with em, needed to be milled to match the heads, but with the engine they're on now, the 3x2 intake I'm running needed no milling. Seen the same thing on another engine as well. Pull the intake, clean all the old gasket crap off, then set the new gaskets down (dry, no sealer) and without the end gaskets. Then set the intake down and measure the gap under the intake and compare that to the thickness of the end gaskets. If the end gaskets are too thick to use, then simply use just sealer in leiu of the end gaskets. Also helps to use 4 long carb studs (2 per side) screwed into the heads to use a guides when setting the intake in place. Once the intake is on, remove the studs and replace with the bolts.

 

[rbohm]

Not necessarily. Now two intakes are exactly alike as far as the dimensions. Long story short: I've had my milled (by .060) Canfield heads on two different engines now, with the last combo, the Vic Jr I ran with em, needed to be milled to match the heads, but with the engine they're on now, the 3x2 intake I'm running needed no milling. Seen the same thing on another engine as well. Pull the intake, clean all the old gasket crap off, then set the new gaskets down (dry, no sealer) and without the end gaskets. Then set the intake down and measure the gap under the intake and compare that to the thickness of the end gaskets. If the end gaskets are too thick to use, then simply use just sealer in leiu of the end gaskets. Also helps to use 4 long carb studs (2 per side) screwed into the heads to use a guides when setting the intake in place. Once the intake is on, remove the studs and replace with the bolts.

understand that what DH wrote here is for checking to see if milling is needed for the intake only. when you go to install the manifold for real, you do want to use a thin coat of sealer on both sides of the gasket around the coolant port openings.

 

[D.Hearne]

understand that what DH wrote here is for checking to see if milling is needed for the intake only. when you go to install the manifold for real, you do want to use a thin coat of sealer on both sides of the gasket around the coolant port openings.

Right ! Got a little distracted cookin supper.

 

[rbohm]

Right ! Got a little distracted cookin supper.

humble pie?

 

[D.Hearne]

humble pie?