Hey all, I had to replace a head on my gen VI 502. Head is stock 088 with upgraded valve train. Exhaust is almost new stainless marine. Get everything back together and when the motor is running water is dripping from the bottom of all 4 exhaust ports on the outside of the exhaust manifold(lowest point on bottom of exhaust manifold). Its in the middle of a twin application(port motor) so I cant see in there all that well. I checked cylinder 2 and 8 spark plugs and there dry. The water is not spraying from anywhere that I can tell. its like its running from the head down the underside of the exhaust manifold. But obviously I know there should not be any water in the head to exhaust manifold joint. I friend told me to check to make sure the short head bolts on the bottom of the cylinder head aren't touching the bottom of the manifold holding it out. It does not look like they are and even if they were I would think that would just give me an exhaust leak. Oh, the new(to me) head just came from the machine shop where it was magnafluxed and pressure tested. First thought is, is it possible the manifold bolts go into water jackets. I did not use sealant on them as I never have before. I didnt think exhaust manifold bolts ever were wet. The fact that its happening on the bottom of all 4 has to be a clue but im not sure how. Even though I believe VI blocks dont have wet head bolts I did used thread sealer on all the head bolts. The motor starts and seems to run well although I havnt went far yet. Thoughts?

Sounds like you need to find the leak, not sure how much you can be helped over the internet. It sounds like you know where water should be, I'd just look for areas that could leak and go from there. Like you said the head and manifold bolts are not the issue, could be a head gasket, or manifold, or the joint between the manifold and riser. Or it could be a water hose nearby making you think it is related to the manifold, hard to say, just start looking, good luck.

I figured it out. After looking at it a while I decided to just remove the exhaust manifold. The exhaust gaskets I got were 4 individual ones. The bolt holes in the gaskets line up in two different orientations. One is correct and the other does not cover the bottom corner of the manifold enough to seal. All 4 gaskets were on wrong allowing for small exhaust leaks at each port. The water was from reversion at idle. I got a set of felpro 17440 gaskets(one piece) now that I will reinstall the manifold with(not an easy proposition). Now the question is was the reversion caused by the exhaust leaks? Or do I have a reversion problem. The Motors have been together and running for 3 seasons and I have not had a problem that I know of. Nothing has changed setup wise. I going with the leaks causing a vacuum and I will be fine once the leaks are gone.

I would say the reversion was most likely caused by the exhaust leaks