Raylar

Twin-Spins:

You sound very concerned, do you have Raylar kits on your engines in your Baja, I don't recognize your screen name or your boat. If you have Raylar kits are your heads leaking?
Yes we have hundreds of Raylar heads all over the world since 2002 and I only know of a tiny few ( one or two customers)who have ever had a leak from the head. Our serial numbers on heads now number according to our book number 612 out there and thats a pretty good representation of of our product and any potential for problems as two or three heads with an issue. We don't ever claim we can always make perfect parts as no manufacturer can. We do however stand behind our product above and beyond the call of duty on warranty and even BoatingBent knows we supplied a new head for his engine even after his kit had been used for three seasons. Try buying an Edelbrock, Dart, Merlin or AFR pair of heads and going back to those manufacturers for a warranty on a cylinder head after two or three years of use! They won't even return the phone call! because the warranties of these manufacturers cover no marine high performance usage, let alone 2 or 3 years of use before a warranty claim!

SD Fever, your engine is less than one year old and if there is a problem with your head from a potential leak we will repair or replace the head as needed. It is also important to know that all the head bolts are wet, they all go into the water jacket of the 496 and if the thread sealant is not put on initially adequately, the head bolts can drip or leak coolant . As always my phone is always on and I am willing to discuss anyones 496 problems, especially on Raylar equipped 496's. I just don't want this thread to be perceived as though there is some big problem out there with Raylar cylinder heads, as I know there isn't!

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

raeburn

I agree with you Ray, I don't believe my coolant leak is caused by the Raylar heads either, I think the re&re of the heads and resealing of the head bolts is the problem.
I'm wondering if the sealant is getting pushed off the threads as the bolt goes into the block. My most recent attempt involved cleaning the threads with brake clean and a rifle brush, blow dry with compressed air (repeated about ten times), and then applied Permatex High Performance to the threads in the block with a small screwdriver as well as to the bolt threads. I threaded the bolts slowly and let cure for two days before refilling.
After filling and running on the hose up to temp (for about 15mins), there's no leaks! Fingers crossed for water test this weekend.
My concern now is if the ARP bolts can be retorqued that many times without losing their stretch?

SDFever

First, the ARP Bolts are able to be reused no problem. The factory bolts are Torque-to-yield and they claim you should not re-use them. That is actually debateable... Moving forward -

I think I've found the solution to the head bolts leaking and I'll share it with you asap. I won't have time to do it until after the holiday weekend but I will do my part to help you all out. More later.

SDFever

No offense but please don't do this unless you want your coolant tank to be chit ugly... Lemme try my plan B first and I'll let you know.

3 years is pretty darn good service.

Raylar

Raeburn:

I spent some serious time with SDFever going over how to remove the head bolts one at a time, drain the coolant, clean the threads in the block , clean the bolt threads, reseal with some new sealer SDFever came up with and hopefully stop these nagging little leaks. I am sure he will go over the process in detail and if we ever find its a head issue we will address that then for sure! enjoy your boat be safe and have fun!

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

raeburn

Good to know about the ARP bolts - thanks. Let us know how you make out, hope you have good results.

raeburn

Thanks Ray,

I know we will find a solution to this annoyance. In the mean time I plan on enjoying the boating season. A little coolant leak won't get in my way!
I ran mine a bit today and one of the bolts started weeping a little - nothing like before, but still not 100% fixed. Curious to hear how SDfever makes out.

SDFever

Well you got me on that one. Neither is good.

raeburn

How'd you make out SDFever? Mine are still dripping, not as bad as before, but still annoying. I think I will wait till the fall before I make another attempt at sealing them and just run the boat for the summer, keeping a close eye on it.

SDFever

Actually working on right after the 4th. No use in tearing the boat down until after. Just been busy at work and every time I start getting ready I either have to drop it or it's a nice day and I wind up running it.

It's really hard to work on a boat with my boating schedule.