Why does my Intake Keep Leaking??????

[tbird187]

I have an odd problem.. first ill start off saying i bought this intake a while back it is a edelbrock torker 289 intake. well I ran it for about 6 months no leaks.... pulled it off because i was gonna switch to a diff intake. car sat for a few months... decided to put it back on.... went to napa bought new gaskets put it all back together filled up the radiator and soon as it got close to full water started pouring out the front passenger side of the intake ?????????? so I blame the napa gaskets and today I get some felpro gaskets this time i use rtv around each port torque it down SAME DAMN PROBLEM wtf is wrong with this thing?????? does it matter what year of gasket set I use? I dont understand it never leaked before until I pull it off and let it sit i must be doing somthign wrong please help....

 

[tbird187]

also what color of rtv should i use and should i use rtv instead of the end quark gaskets???? how long should i let the rtv set befor ei place the intake on and how long should i let it sit before i put fluids and drive the car...

 

[tbird187]

ttt

 

[BlueThunder1988]

Black RTV for the intake ends... I used a special glycol-resistant RTV (grey, I think it was Permatex) that was sold as thermostat RTV to seal the coolant passages on mine. Good luck!

 

[tbird187]

well i figured 3rd time would be a charm tonight. bought yet another set of gaskets/ tube of rtv and an oil change. torqued down the intake after i got it all torqued i went throught he bolts to check and broke the damn intake!!!!!!!!!!! broke a nice chunk off the fron drivers side and was only torqing the bolts to about 20 lbs..... what luck I have....

 

[TenorPlayinGuy]

ouch... sorry to hear...

 

[Michael Yount]

I suspect the two events are related -- something was not aligning correctly; had heads been milled, or block decked without the manifold being cut to match? That's frequently a cause of leaks. The same gap that allows the leaks can cause the breakage when bolts are torqued - if the manifold isn't hitting the mounting surfaces exactly like it should - there are gaps where there shouldn't be - it's really easy to break those relatively weak castings. The problem can also occur if the end gaskets are used when the heads have been cut - they hold the manifold up a bit too high on the ends keeping the port interface from seating the way it should - apply torque, and breakage often occurs. Can't explain though why it worked before. Sorry about the problem.

 

[bmo37]

when u removed the intkae how did u do so? if u pryed it out with say a prybar maybe you scratched the intake surface or the heads themselves.

 

[GMstomper]

when u removed the intkae how did u do so? if u pryed it out with say a prybar maybe you scratched the intake surface or the heads themselves.

I would have to agree