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1947 W21 long bed 218 6cyl water leaking into center port of intake manifold


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     Hi all, found this great site when looking for info about my father in laws beater truck. It had sat for a long time and had all problems a vehicle has when sitting forever. Brakes,engine, fuel,cooling,wiring issues and of course RUST!! He just wanted it running and the brakes fixed, hahaha. We got it running with little effort for about 3 to 4 minutes until all the rust in the fuel tank clogged the fuel pump. The FUN then began. new fuel tank & hoses, rebuilt carb and cleaned all hard lines. New brake system (all parts except for the hard lines). New cooling system with recored radiator (had to dump the honeycomb style core) and rebuilt water pump. We tried to keep all original parts if possible. Cleaned and painted the oiling system with the remote oil filter can. Generator, voltage regulator & starter were cleaned and painted. Firewall was sanded and painted as well. Then the parts kept flying OFF the truck. Bed fenders,grille assy, etc. Only thing not removed was cab (decided to do at a later date (unfortunately). Soooo the big problem happened this weekend. 

    Fired the engine and all was good until we decided to put water in the system. I had a drip coming off of the exhaust manifold nut that attaches to one of the long center studs. I figured that was a wet hole and we needed to just remove the stud and reseal since that was the one we had to replace because it sheared off when removing. I wanted to start it anyway to see if we had any other issues plus I knew there was still rusty crap in the block we couldnt flush when we tried to clean the system. Wanted to get it hot and flush the block a few times before adding coolant. We tried to start it again and nothing. Tried starting fluid even and nothing. We pulled all the spark plugs and they were dry. Points were still good. I thought maybe it was flooded cause I saw what looked like fuel in the intake manifold as I looked through the carb. So I removed the carb and soaked up the fuel. Unfortunately I saw a trickle of fluid coming from the #3-4 cylinder port of the block into the intake after I soaked it up.. As I shook the truck you can visibly see more fluid leak out the block into the intake. UGGGHHH! Cracked block? Water corrosion possibly rusted through? I though head gasket too. So removal began yesterday, took off the head and the head gasket surprisingly looked good. The seal marks were all good top and bottom of the copper gasget. The center port was moist but not like I would have expected. Heading over now with borescope to see if I see anything.

     Any suggestions on what to look for or maybe a similar issue has happened to you. Please Please let me know if you have any ideas or processes to check this aggravating problem.

Thanks, Ted

The frustrated son in law. Gardena, CA.

 

47Dodge W21 drivers side engine.jpeg

47 Dodge W21 Pass side engine.jpeg

47Dodge W21 218 cu in teardown 1.jpeg

47 Dodge W21 218 cu in teardown 2.jpeg

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Put the head back on and leave the manifolds off. Fill it up with water and see where it's seeping out. It's possible that another of your studs was leaking and found a path into the intake manifold. That'll also show you which studs will need thread sealing.  

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Pretty on the outside, but ugly on the inside . Maybe a little TLC to the cylinders, valves, and the springs? That's a lot of carbon in the cylinders, etc, isn't it?

Edited by wagoneer
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Thanks but pretty doesnt make it purr right? I though the same about the studs Merle but we only had to change the one and I had no witness marks from the others. I believe I found a crack in the #4 intake port with my borescope today. Gonna take the motor out tomorrow and begin a teardown. It needed it but didnt want to dive in to deep until we drove it a bit. Quite a waste of gaskets and labor. Father in law is lucky thats what family is for? HaHa. Now I'm tempted to pull the cab off the frame. Thata all we havent done to date.  Block is most likely trash but magnaflux inspection will tell the story. Father in law found a complete engine except for carb for $1900. Sounds like a great deal especially with starter,generator, bellhousing, distributor , clutch fork, and both manifolds. Its a 230 Cid block. Will this block fit in the current set up to replace the 218Cid? I believe the 218 is a 23" head and the 230 is 25"? Is this correct? Not much room behind head to firewall and Fan blades are pretty close to the radiator 

. Not sure this can work. What possible?

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If it is a US built 230 it is probably 23". A 25" engine will fit into the body by moving the rad mount forward. Canadian trucks are the same size and they have the 25" block engines.

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Nice Looking Truck , No answer to your question. There are a few Pilot House Trucks in your area ( Torrance/Gardena Ca)., I am working on a '50 B 2 B in Torrance if you need a hand let me know.  Rod 

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Whats the easy way to remove the clutch and brake pedals? That looks like the biggest part of getting this engine out with trans attached. Does that pivot rod the pedals attach to slide out somehow. Took a quick look earlier and didnt see an easy way to get the pedal arms through the floorboard for removal. Nothing in the manual or internet anywhere. 

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Big sections of your floor unbolt and come out to give lots of room . The pedals and arms come off , just unbolt . The pivot rod comes out too but I don't remember if you need to remove the transmission first or not .  You might be able to leave the pivot rod in place . 

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typical engine removal is remove transmission, remove floorboards, remove engine with bellhousing and pedals attached, might be easier to remove steering column.  The main difference between the 218 and 230 is the crankshaft and connecting rods...verify your engine number for specifics.

 

Not a priority at this point but them spark plug wires look a little long...if you're going to upgrade, MSD makes a good universal set that could perform better.

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