Crack detection & repair

Causes of cracks in heads & blocks

Overheating
Freezing
Expansion and contraction
Cracks start from water jacket side

Only heads and blocks are repaired

Copyright 2003 Gary Lewis Dave Capitolo

 Crack detection & repair

Design & production problems

Core shifts
Sharp corners after machining
Siamese valves & ports
 Crack detection & repair

Dry magnetic particle inspection for iron parts

Clean area to base metal
Set up magnetic field on part
Dust with magnetic powder
Cracks will be visible
Test in different directions
 Crack detection & repair

Wet magnetic particle inspection

For connecting rods & crankshafts
Clean parts to base metal
Part is magnetized under black light
Spray with solvent carrying magnetic particles
Cracks become visible

Part can then be demagnetized

 Crack detection & repair

Dye penetrants
Used on all materials
Clean parts to base metal
Coat part in penetrant
Wait a few minutes and wipe off excess
Spray part with developer & allow to dry to a powder
 Crack detection & repair

Pressure testing castings

Used for heads & blocks on all materials
Water passages are blocked with plates
Pressurize passages to 3 times cooling system pressure
Spray part with soapy water or submerge part
 Crack detection & repair

Crack repair pins

Full length must be accessible with drill & tap
Locate the crack
Drill 1/8 hole past each end of the crack
Drill & tap holes
Use tapered reamer to make tapping easier
 Crack detection & repair

Sleeving cracked cylinders

1/8 and 3/32 wall sleeves
.002 average interference
Press or shrink
 Crack detection & repair

Sleeving other holes

Head bolt holes
Oil passages
 Crack detection & repair

Stop drilling
Drill 1/8 hole past crack
Not done near water, oil, or combustion chamber
 Crack detection & repair

Welding Aluminum
TIG
Prepare crack by gouging
Preheat casting
Gas acts as a shield
 Crack detection & repair

Welding Iron, method #1

Oxy-acetylene torch
Preheat part to 1300F
Iron filler rod
 Crack detection & repair

Welding Iron, method #2

Flame spray welding
Gouge area
Preheat casting to 650F
Heat area red hot & introduce powder
 Crack detection & repair

Sealing
Sodium silicate
Heated & circulated for an hour
Pressurized to 55 psi
Cures in air in 24 hours
Used to repair porosity problems
Can be added to cooling system
 Crack detection & repair

Vacuum impregnation
Vacuum applied to resin filled tank
Pressure applied
Rinsed in water