Welding a cracked water jacket.

[Reg Burn]

Has any one welded (with OxyAcelylene) a cracked water jacket that has suffered the common fault of being left, full of coolant, outside on a frosty night? I am concerned too much heat from the welding flame could damage the cylinder sleeve. Do you need to remove the sleeve first? Or could the cylinder block be immersed in water to keep it cool or would the vastly different temperatures then cause distortion?

Any ideas?

Reg

[Tom]

That requires someone with a lot of experience to preheat the cylinder and such. I've read of good results using a MIG welder though.

[dieselgman]

I would say remove the liner and use an oven to "heat process" the broken jacket through the welding procedure. One of the tricks in working with brittle cast iron is to carefully and precisely control the temps prior to welding and then a very gradual controlled cool-down after welding to prevent additional cracking. Unfortunately, I cannot say what the required temps and times involved are exactly. A welding pro would likely know those details.

dieselgman

[carlb23]

When i have to weld cast iron and i am no expert by any means I put the part to be welded in my gas grill with the part pretty close to the flame.  I heat it up to 700 degrees F for about 1 hour then I weld the part right in the grill using long cuff leather gloves.  After I am done welding I close the lid on the grill and lower the burners down a bit to about 600 F for about 1/2 hour then 400 degrees for about 1/2 hour 300 degrees  then 200 then i just turn off the grill and let the part cool in the grill overnight.  I have had a good bit of success with this method but you can not run a long bead you must use short spots and I like to start at one corner then do the other corner and back and forth as to not concentrate too much heat at once.   Your millage may vary!


Good luck

[wagspe208]

There are specialty shops that weld cast iron. I don't know where you are located, but there is a place in Mt. Vernon, IL that does excellent work. Check out guys into old tractors. Most of that stuff is irreplaceable like lister stuff.
The part is heated up in an oven to cherry red. The part is then gas welded with a cast iron rod. The part is placed back in the oven and allowed to cool over night. Machine, and go.
The trick is to preheat the part and allow slow, even cooling. This prevents further cracking. Lasts forever, good as new.
I have had a couple cast iron race heads with the chambers blown out of them repaired. They are just as good as ever.
Wags

Now, many guys can do half assed cast welding.. Probably ok.
I also had an Oliver tractor block with a freeze crack repaired by the Mt. Vernon guy. He did not take it apart. Welded with engine assembled (out of tractor). It is a diesel block. Not leaking a drop for 2 years. I had a "local cast iron welder" try to fix it first. He fu**** it up more than it was before.

[Reg Burn]

Thanks for your assistance in  this matter. I planned to do this kind of work myself but to avoid additional problems I will use professionals.

Reg

[fabricator]

Welding is one of the things I do in my job, I could tig it for ya, but to be honest I've seen JB weld used very sucsessfully on water jacket cracks, you work on the crack with a die grinder, vee it out a little to give the JB some grip surface, it's worth a try,it can always be cleaned off and welded.

[LowGear]

JB Rocks!

JB Rules!

[xyzer]

When i have to weld cast iron and i am no expert by any means I put the part to be welded in my gas grill with the part pretty close to the flame.

I like that idea.....I have used the oven or a torch. The point is to keep the whole part at an elevated temperature, braze, keeping the heat evenly saturate, then slowly cool. The  gas grill will aid and give you control. It will also allow you to braze a bit and close the lid for a break......  Also you should V out the crack a bit with a grinder.

[fabricator]

Never use a grinder with a grinding wheel, use a die grinder with a carbide burr, grinding wheels leave lots of stuff on the ground surface, this will cause inclusions in your weld.

[cylinderheadnut]

Have you considered " cold arc'ing" it ?
 

Thats dc stick welding using a nickel electrode (not ferronickel )with no pre-heating, you grind it out and build the weld up in short runs, to put as little heat into it as possible, and you let it cool between welds.

I've only done this on non critical parts, but i have a Lister JP3 water jacket to do soon.

[mobile_bob]

+1 for cold welding the crack with nickel alloy rod and a stick arc welder.

prep is key, weld hot and only short stitches, followed immediately by a thorough peening with a chipping hammer.

weld a stitch, peen it to death, weld another stitch, peen... wash rinse and repeat.

depending on the condition of the iron and how much crap is in the cast (oil and water additives) you might get some ugly welds... pay no mind just weld it up
and then grind it out and repeat the process.  the first pass will clean the iron and make the second pass look great.

i have been welding cast iron for 35 plus years and have had excellent results doing as described.  the finished product can be ground smooth and should look very good with some effort.

i wouldn't weld it with the liner in place, no since in taking a chance at overheating the o-ring seal. i also would never braze or torch weld such a repair because it takes so damned much heat to get a good result, all that excess heat causes stress issues that must be addressed by preheat and post heating after the repair.

the peening relieves all the stresses in the weld area, doing it in stitches keeps the cast relatively cool where you can handle the casting with you bare hands without being burned.

also depending on the crack (if it is relatively tight) there is an excellent product called "K&W blockseal" it is very good at repairing cracks due to freezing. just follow the instructions on the can to the letter and the stuff will seal up some really nasty cracks no problem.

bob g

[Chris R]

Marine-tex rocks better, if you can find it
Chris

[LowGear]

OMG Chris,

You're not suggesting a simple, easy, inexpensive cure that if it doesn't work can be removed with the same effort prepping for a steel surgery would require?

When I cure leaks in plastic radiators I lay in fiberglass as if I were just glassing it. 

Casey

[cujet]

I know it's been a while, but I wanted to provide a possible fix for those dealing with cast iron cracks.

Arc welding cast iron with high nickel rods is always an option. However, the weld area is always porous, tends to crack outside the weld and often looks horrible. They use this method in India to "fix" new listeroids. Plenty of failed welds!

Brazing cast iron is viable and is my preferred method. However, one must braze the cast iron to steel to form a quality repair. In this case, the crack can be removed by grinding, the area cleaned properly (perfectly), then a steel patch fabricated and located in place with a clamp or screws. Oven preheat the entire assembly and preheat some more with a large torch tip. Then carefully braze the area, using plenty of flux. The brass will adhere to the cast iron and the steel evenly and if done properly, will form a brass "bead" looking like a weld.

The repair must be cooled very slowly. It might be best to insulate the part and let it cool overnight.

If done properly, it will not leak or crack. Plus it will carry plenty of load, if necessary.