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Leaking ARP head studs

Do your ARP head studs leak?

  • Total voters
    9
B

bobbiemartin

Author of The DB2 Conversion Guide
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Location
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OK, I have the ARP head studs and have read some leak and some do not. I'm looking for real world experience with these. If yours don't leak, what did you do? If they did, what did you do to seal them? Anyone gone back to bolts due to leakage? It would seem that the studs would seal in the block as well as bolts, but maybe not?
 
I can't see why a bolt will seal and a stud won't. If and when I do an engine it will get studs.
 
Am I to assume that you are using a thread sealant when you install them? I can't see any reason why studs would be different than bolts in this respect as long as they are treated equally.
 
We were discussing this earlier today & the one difference I can think of is the bolts come w/ sealant pre-applied under the bolt heads also?

It doesn't seem intuitively likely to me that any small leak at the threads in the water jacket gets caught/sealed by any sealant that remains under the bolt head after torquing down - but maybe so?

Would have guessed any sealant put on the studs hand threaded in, then put under strain later would have had a better chance to seal that bolts threaded in? But I haven't used studs on a 6.5, so no 6.5 specific experience.
 
I would use the GM TEFLON bolt thread sealer and put the studs in. I've used this stuff several times now, and will use it on EVERY engine I build from now on that has a head bolt or even a bolt hole going into the coolant passage.
 
ALWAYS use thread sealant in ANY fastener that protrudes into passages with water, oil and even pressurized or negative pressure intake air.
 
I've got ARP studs on 2 engines. I used the recomended ARP thread sealer. No leaks yet. I wouldn't use tty bolts. I've seen too many not retain their torque. The tty bolts are the leading cause of head gasket failure on the 6.5 according to bill heath. He said the tty bolts can't handle the heat and vibration. Besides ,studs are reuseable if need be. My optimiser will get some ultra black under the washers just to be on the safe side.
 
I used the grey permatex to seal the studs on my old 6.5 as per Todd's advice.

They never leaked at all.....the block fell apart before I could put too many hundreds of thousands of kms on it though....
 
Bolts seal off better at the top, I'm not a big fan of installing the studs finger tight either,seems to me that is the main reason they leak,my ARP instructions also said you can use their thread sealer on the nut if you wish. I used orange silicone on the bottom and mystic grease on the top,no leaks.
 
THEFERMANATOR said:
I would use the GM TEFLON bolt thread sealer and put the studs in. I've used this stuff several times now, and will use it on EVERY engine I build from now on that has a head bolt or even a bolt hole going into the coolant passage.
Click to expand...

I've heard this is a great sealant as well.

I have a tube, ready to use, but chickened out as I'm plum tired of resealing them already.

I've used the Permatex white, leaked after awhile (runs on the track verses miles).

The ARP sealant is the current stuff I'm running. It holds on some of the studs, then starts to seep and leak on some of the others. I have a great pic on the Page of what this looks like on one that's leaking.. One good thing, if one of the exposed 4 starts leaking, even on a hot engine, you can pull it out with coolant bleeding and apply sealant, and throw it back in the hole and you're good for the rest of the race. Track frowns on leaks.

I've had two engines with studs, one of the engines still runs them, because it kinda has to. The other I had to swap to bolts and r&r the heads and gaskets because the coolant leak had compromised the gasket at one of the studs, leading to a small leak into the combustion chamber.

If we could get the same sealant that's used on the head bolts applied to the head studs, we migth have a usable fastener.

Otherwise, RTV them in.

Looks like my comments about leaking studs got your attention Bobbie.

J
 
I don't run head studs on my 6.5, but have built countless SBC/BBC using Rectorseal "True Blue". It is not only a thread sealer, but also has locking/retaining ability as well. It is a semi soft-set compound that easily disassembles.

As far as the nut-end, I always used moly-paste and "bedded-in" the nuts using ARP's instructions.

The problem with tightening the studs too tight into the block is that they can have a tendency to kick off to one side causing stud misalignment when dropping the heads on. This is because of the rolled threads on the studs themselves, -and the fact that it is what is referred to as a "one-start" thread.

For anyone screwing NPT stuff together, the true blue stuff works incredible.
 
chevyCowboy said:
any one got any new imput on this im getting ready to put the studs and heads on soon and am wonder what i should use??
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I can tell you what I did. So far they are not leaking, but its early days. Anyway, I washed every stud in solvent, then rinsed in water and air dried them. I then washed them in dish soap and rinsed with water and air dried them - twice. There was no oil left on them when I was done. I also cleaned the block very well and chased every threaded hole with a tap. Another cleaning and blew out each hole with compressed air. So both stud and block were clean and oil free. I used GM thread sealer ($20+ a tube!) on the block end of every stud. Of course I used ARP lube on the nuts, washers and upper threads of the studs. Maybe a bit excessive, but I think the oil the studs ship with will not allow the sealer to seal to the stud, same with the block. You want clean metal for the sealer to bond to. At least, that's my opinion.
 
The problem with using them on OBS is you have to pull the motor. You'll never get the heads on or off in the truck. That is why I went with TTY. I even reused the factory ones on a 6.2 once years ago and they worked fine. I used avaition permatex on the threads.
 
Acesneights1 said:
The problem with using them on OBS is you have to pull the motor. You'll never get the heads on or off in the truck. That is why I went with TTY. I even reused the factory ones on a 6.2 once years ago and they worked fine. I used avaition permatex on the threads.
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Huh? Really? I could swear I've read a couple of threads where people have done it. Though I think some have to be loosened, then removed with the head, and vice versa for installing. Seems like as long as you can loosen the stud with a double nut at the top, you should be able to remove either the stud, or have it come with the head where there's not enough room to pull it free first.

What am I missing ?

PS: The current dyno thread has some interesting feedback on leaking head studs also.

http://www.thetruckstop.us/forum/showthread.php?t=20199&page=6
 
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