Uggghhh, '94 Rt head gaskets leaking...

[Sean Roe]

Uggghhh, \'94 Rt head gaskets leaking...

Saw a little coolant on the floor when I moved the '94 earlier. My worst fears were confirmed when I looked at the engine from the underside. Head gaskets are leaking. This car is stock and has 11,000 miles, but is out of it's factory warranty. Is there ANY chance, or program available that would repair this with warranty assistance?

There's only one bright spot. If I've got to take the top end off, it's going to get cylinder head port and chamber work, a cam, bigger valves, roller rockers, extrude hone intake, etc..
Ok, well maybe I don't feel so bad now.

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But, I'd still like to find out if Dodge has ever helped out anybody with a car in this position. I'm the second owner for all of about 8 weeks now.

I'll check to see if there's any coolant in the oil with an oil anaylsis tomorrow. If it looks OK, I'll go ahead and Dyno on Sunday. At least if I end up doing all the work here and upgrading it, we can use it as R&D for our Gen 1 engine program.

Sean

 

[FRANK]

Re: Uggghhh, \'94 Rt head gaskets leaking...

Sean,

It's not the end of the world man. You are talking a day to disassemble and another day to reassemble taking your time. Best of luck. Gee, I wonder what Jon B. would do in this situation? Well Jon?

 

[Steve-Indy]

Re: Uggghhh, \'94 Rt head gaskets leaking...

Sorry to hear about leak. As this is a known, recognized issue, would certainly try for help from Dodge first. Good luck, and please keep us posted.

Steve

 

[Sean Roe]

Re: Uggghhh, \'94 Rt head gaskets leaking...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Steve-Indy:
Sorry to hear about leak. As this is a known, recognized issue, would certainly try for help from Dodge first. Good luck, and please keep us posted.

Steve
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi Steve,
Yes, that's what I'm hoping for. If someone else has had help, then the precedence has been set.
It's not the work part that I mind, its the timing. I have a lot going on right now trying to develop new Viper products and actually get business moving. I know I could make the repairs pretty quickly, but it will take away from other work. That and I know myself too well. If I pull the heads off, I won't be able to stop myself from modifying it to make more power. And of course, that's going to take more time, and money. You see, it's almost like a curse that is in some ways good, in some ways bad.

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Sunday is scheduled to be its first full dyno day as a 1992 to 1996 RT/10 Viper Engine Calibrator test and development car. I'm hoping to have the changes made soon so that our VEC1 will be available for Gen 1 engine Viper owners as well.
But, if setbacks are something I must face, we'll try and take them in stride.

 

[JonB]

Re: Uggghhh, \'94 Rt head gaskets leaking...

The FIRST thing to do is a simple and careful re-torquing of the heads. You may just find that the headbolts are indeed out-of-spec, and this re-torque can postpone your agony for quite a while. When my 93 gaskets started seeping at 15K miles, showing the same weeping pecker-tracks down the block, two re-torquings solved it til 35,000 miles when the final coup de gras of WARRANTY came into play. The leaks stayed minimal, but I just exercised my warranty privilege at that time.

With your supreme skills, Sean, head gaskets are a snap. And since out of warranty, like my pal FRANK says.....'a day in the life.'

But to answer your OTHER question: I know of NO help given by Dodge to out-of-warranty motors, even tho this is a known problem. Exception: A zone manager once donated the gaskets to an owner ! D-C is tightening even tighter.

Good Luck, Sean.....

 

[phiebert]

Re: Uggghhh, \'94 Rt head gaskets leaking...

Mind if I join in on your problem? I have a coolant smell from my 94/RT and Jon B has been very helpful with suggestions. The thing is that I can't figure out where the smell is coming from. It seems to "seep" out of the side scoops on the driver side but I don't have any puddles, I can't see weeping strips coming down from the head gaskets and it doesn't seem to have pooled in the overflow tank. I guess I am leaning towards it being a head gasket problem because this seems to be common but can't seem to diagnose it. I think I'll take Jon B's advice and get the bolts tightened to start and see if that makes it go away. I've only got 12K miles. How torqued should the bolts be?

 

[Paul S Lacey]

Re: Uggghhh, \'94 Rt head gaskets leaking...

Patrick,

I have a 95 RT/10 and had the same problem, which turned out to be speed **** related, don't know if you have then in the USA can't remembe but I think you have then in car lots.

The colant collection bottle is very low down behind the front lamps, if you travel over a **** and ground the car the bottom bolts which are quite long from the front fasia hit and puncture the bottle.

Was a problem getting a bottle in the UK so used some epoxy gule and cut the bolt down.

Could be that,

Regards

Paul 95 RT/10

 

[Sean Roe]

Re: Uggghhh, \'94 Rt head gaskets leaking...

I wish retorquing the heads would solve this one for a while, but the gasket is actually corroded quite a bit where it is outside the head (only visible from the underside). This car had been stored for 3 years and only run occasionally. What seemed to "show" the leak was when I warmed the engine up some (not to full temp) and shut it off, letting the car sit a while. The pressure in the coolant system was enough to force the coolant out, yet the block was cool enough that the coolant did not evaporate by the time it got to the oil pan. I did the same thing again and watched it from underneath last night. I had thought / hoped it was just the thermostat gasket or a hose because I too did not see any coolant after driving. Getting the oil analysis done this morning.

 

[Gerald]

Re: Uggghhh, \'94 Rt head gaskets leaking...

Sean ,

Just get some copper gaskets MADE or buy some top quality gaskets and have them installed. I know that sounds simple, but worked like a champ with me. I also installed a lower lb/ft radiator cap and that helped 100%. It's been about a year and with the new gaskets and cap, Not one single drop. Doug Levin did the work.

Gerald

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

Re: Uggghhh, \'94 Rt head gaskets leaking...

I also had my head gaskets replaced under warranty because the person before me never drove the car. Unfortunately, the additional coolant smell coming from the side pipes was determined to be because of cylinder sleeve seating problems and my engine was rebuilt to fix it. Retorquing the heads on my car did not help.

 

[JonB]

Re: Uggghhh, \'94 Rt head gaskets leaking...

The above jogged my memory:

Going to a Lev-R-Vent radiator cap of 2 lower pounds was also a technique I used on my 93. Having the Lev-R-Vent cap on ANY Viper makes it much easier to "burp" the motor...or to fill the facia overflow bottle as well! Maybe its cheating, but lifting that lever when hot safely blasts a cup of hot coolant to the ovelflow bottle when needed, making it easy to add a cup up-top when still warm!

Sean, you ID'd one BIG problem of long-stored early Vipers! The head gaskets dry out....NW Vipers often store for 3-4 months. That's why I urge starting every 3-4 weeks and run to operating temp, and rolling car 3' each way, to re-lube gears, seals, and re-moisten internal gaskets.

 

[Gerald]

Re: Uggghhh, \'94 Rt head gaskets leaking...

Awww Jon,

YOur not taking credit for that tip are ya?
But I'll tell ya' a radiator cap with a pressure release on it sure is cheating. Why everyone Viper owner doesn't have one his is snake isn't right. Takes 20 seconds to fill up the radiator and just as quick to fill up the overflow....

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Gerald

 

[Viperrick]

Re: Uggghhh, \'94 Rt head gaskets leaking...

Sean, Dan Cragin is correct. The majority of the problems with the leaking gaskets is that the liners have receeded into the block. The way it was described to me is that the liner is set above the deck and the gasket crushes around the top of the liner when you torque down head. As the liner receeds you get leaks. Retorqueing might help temporarily but it will return. This is a major concern with early RT's. If it hasn't leaked yet there is a good chance it will in the future.