Cracked Block In '96 Lt-1
 

I just put my '96 prostar 205 in the lake, fired her up to find a cracked port-side block. After investigating, I find that the port-side petcock drains until it reaches full open, then stops draining. If it is given an 1/8 turn closed it will resume draining. This caused water to remain in the block over a very cold winter reslulting in a 4" split in the block exterior. This is my first sicking experience with a cracked motor. What am I looking at? Any suggestions? Thanks, KB

Check your oil. If it looks like chocolate milk you have a more serious problem, water in the oil.

If it is external only and just dripping water into the bilge you may be able to patch it up. A friend of mine with an LTR had the exact same thing happen, it only cracked externally (i.e. no water in the oil), he patched it with JB Weld and now removes the petcocks at the end of the year. Those petcocks are notorious for getting clogged with junk, you are better off taking them out at the end of the season.

Some people who are a bit more engine savvy should be along with more helpful advice but that should at least narrow down how serious your problem is.

You can usually find LT1 blocks for sale on ls1tech.com or cz28.com in the for sale section from stock to wild

Try here also:



http://www.golenengineservice.com/html/lt1_lt4.html

Chevy 350ci LT1
Factory Replacement Short Block

Perfect replacement short block with top notch quality machine work and assembly.
Base Price: $2,299.00


http://www.golenengineservice.com/as...s/CHVLT1SB.gif

Sorry to read about this- those petcocks work great whenthe motor is cooled using anti-freeze in a closed system but once weeds, sand, silt and other matter is introduced, it's best to remove them and use brass plugs.

Jimn is absolutely correct about those petcocks...I had them, and I always had to remove them. I would open them, and hardly any water would come out, they were alwats plugged with silt, scale, rust etc.

I have even had the drain holes on the block plugged; always remove petcock or plugs AND poke a crewdriver or awl up in the hole and make sure that there are no obstructions.

Had same problem this year in my 02 xstar. Pulled motor that night dropped off at local machine shop, had them locate new block and build to manufacturers specs, picked up 2 weeks later and installed that night and everything seems just like it never happened. Talk about a sick feeling when your wife tells you the engine feels rough and you open motor compartment to find oil and water blowing out valve cover. In the end it was a $2200 adventure with me doing all the removal and install. Approx. 4 hours labor in and out.

4 hours. That's not bad at all. I think it took me that long to replace the rear seal in my transmission but a lot of that was spent sitting there being scared to do anything for fear of making it worse.

If you are in Mountain View, Ca call Glen at Pleasure boats in Santa Clara. He is more than fair, and a great mechanic. He's done a lot of work for me, and a ton for my father in law and bro in laws.

Thanks for all the in put. Oil appears to be clean. How much run time before water would show in oil?