'72 18 hp Evinrude. Small water leak from new head gasket. Normal?? HELP PLEASE!!

[whitejd12]

OK, I was stressing yesterday, but I'm back, the motor is NOT at the bottom of the lake! I'm so thankful for this site. Since the little crack that I thought was certain death for the old girl, is not, I can get back to the last little problem before calling this restoration complete. As you can see in the video, (it's only 7 seconds) I've installed the new head gasket and have a small leak of water at the top of gasket. Now, this video was taken right after the install. Since then, I've retorqued the bolts and ran it again and it's not as bad a leak, but still there. I'm wondering, will the new gasket seal that up better in time when it get a little more running time, not just in a barrel? I HOPE!!ray2:

 

[racerone]

Re: '72 18 hp Evinrude. Small water leak from new head gasket. Normal??

Re: '72 18 hp Evinrude. Small water leak from new head gasket. Normal??

I would take a small center punch and try to use that on both sides of the joint.--------Use that to move some aluminum into the imperfection to close this up.-----Start with small bumps and go bigger if you have to.

 

[whitejd12]

Re: '72 18 hp Evinrude. Small water leak from new head gasket. Normal??

Re: '72 18 hp Evinrude. Small water leak from new head gasket. Normal??

racerone.......I don't think I should be pounding on the top of the head w/a center punch. I can see that ending bad. Here's two pics of the area. One close up and a normal shot. See the nick? I'm just wondering if I can get along with a small leak. Or is there something I can smear on that joint to help it seal. I checked compression and it's 110 in each cylinder. This is the final problem before I think this girl's ready to get on the water full time.

 

[racerone]

Re: '72 18 hp Evinrude. Small water leak from new head gasket. Normal?? HELP PLEASE!!

Nobody said to do any pounding !!!!-----I guess you can figure out what to do on your own .

 

[whitejd12]

Re: '72 18 hp Evinrude. Small water leak from new head gasket. Normal?? HELP PLEASE!!

Sorry racerone. I saw center punch and just assumed a hammer was also involved. Can you please explain in more detail what you mean by moving aluminum using small "bumps". I'm not understanding.

 

[boobie]

Re: '72 18 hp Evinrude. Small water leak from new head gasket. Normal?? HELP PLEASE!!

Are you talking about the cyl head gasket or the P/H base gasket ????

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: '72 18 hp Evinrude. Small water leak from new head gasket. Normal?? HELP PLEASE!!

Whoa thats gushing out.
If you run it like that the water will eventually get on to the sparkplugs and short them out and the motor will probably over heat too.

Looks like its on the crank half its chipped not the head.
If its the head you could of sanded it down evenly.
If it was me id back off the head and put some high temp steel epoxy in that nick and then sand it back flush.

 

[whitejd12]

Re: '72 18 hp Evinrude. Small water leak from new head gasket. Normal?? HELP PLEASE!!

Thanks Bosunsmate. It's not gushing out like that anymore. It's barely pushing a drop out every few seconds. I'm gonna let it go and run it on the water a few times and see how it does. But I may do the steel epoxy thing like you said. Thanks.

Whoa thats gushing out.
If you run it like that the water will eventually get on to the sparkplugs and short them out and the motor will probably over heat too.

Looks like its on the crank half its chipped not the head.
If its the head you could of sanded it down evenly.
If it was me id back off the head and put some high temp steel epoxy in that nick and then sand it back flush.

 

[marine master tech toy 80]

there is two causes, the head is damaged in some way on the (machined end)(gos tword block). if thats the case get some 180 grit sandpaper and rub the head on top of a completely flat surface-that does not bend (not to much press ,just a little) in a back and forth motion until all the imperfections are gone and the surface is completely flat again.DO NOT reuse the old gasket-get a new one again.. the other problem could be worse, u probably have a crack in the head, but most heads are made of aluminum and can be welded and pressure checked at any machine shop in a day 4 about-40 bucks or less

 

[F_R]

What I see there is the cylinder block is bent away from the head. You have two choices, 1. Remove the head and build up the dent with some kind of epoxy and file it flat. (Personally, I'd use Marine - Tex) Or, 2. The right way would be to take it to a machine shop and have it milled flat. Some disassembly required.

BTW, the cylinder block surface is called the "deck".

Expecting it to fix itself is sort of a hopeful dream.

 

[pro-crastinator]

Damage looks like a result of a prybar.
I gotta say that I would take a hammer and GENTLY tap on the edge and move some of the aluminum back where it should be. THEN get the sandpaper and glass and finish the leveling process, resorting to some sort of epoxy if any "fill" is needed.
Looks very correctable.

 

[AlTn]

just to add...a Factory BRP/OMC head gasket will be more "forgiving" than an aftermarket ,possibly Sierra, one. I found this to be true in sealing a head gasket leak on a 9.9 when I used an air sander to remove gasket material from the deck. I won't make that mistake again. The new head gasket sealed the leak completely and continued to do so for the 2+ years it was used until the boat was sold.

 

[Tim Frank]

OP was last here in April. I suspect that he has sorted out his problem or moved on with life.