Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) 53 block

[dsather]

Well, I had a thought that you all might think would be a little crazy. I've used JB weld on a few things but nothing important. I was wondering that if the 53 blocks tend to crack in a certain area would it be possible to clean up the block real good and spread a bunch of this stuff all over an area larger than which tends to be affected?



Crazy, maybe. But JB weld attaches itself tenaciously to whatever you apply it to and has zero shrinkage. It is heat resistant to 500 degrees and has been used many times to repair cracked cylinder blocks and heads. The idea would be to supply a little more strength to this area which is basically what Cummins did when they thickened the casting.



I don't know how thick this stuff could be applied. It uses a hardener so it doesn't need to breath. Maybe coats would be best or one thick coat.



My engine runs great. Only has 46,000 on it and I don't want to shell out the money for another short block if this one runs good. I also don't want to wait for it to crack and then try and repair it. Why not try to prevent the crack in the first place? Why would this not work other than not looking real good (its paintable).



Well, what do you think? Can anyone with a cracked block post pictures that identifies the area of concern. Seems like I've seen a few of them in the past. I'm going to do a search.



Dennis

 

[krs]

Save your money, Dennis, It won't work. J-B weld is an adhesive and not all that strong. Heat will make it release from the place you'd put it. I've used it to bed rifles in a confined contact application (what it's designed for) and the standard way to make it release is to use a little heat, like putting an iron on top of the scope mount.



If you have any at home mix up a little batch and spread it on a piece of steel or something. Let it cure for twice the direction time and then hit it with a hammer. It'll crack and break loose.

Your engine block expands and retracts when it heats and cools. The J-B will probably eventually just fall off.