jvandyke

Running tests today, suspected HG issues. I like the steam vent idea, I don't see a ton of recent chatter on it. Still recommended?

Tom M'Guinn

I have no regrets. Hard to say if it helps preserve gaskets, but it self-vents the system, so that's a good thing in general and makes for less of a mess in the garage.

fejjj

David Floyd

Agreed....even if the self venting is the only positive, well worth it

Chalt

Googled steam venting and a lot of links about LS engines. What is steam venting in a nutshell?

jvandyke

tapping the head to the water jacket to add a port behind the 4th cylinder to allow coolant/air to circulate back to the reservoir, lets air out of an area that is prone to trapping it, trapped air can cause the head gasket to blow, air in the coolant system causes lots of head aches, this mod helps with it, if I were pulling the head I would do it, I don't think I have to after all, yet.

jvandyke

https://www.lindseyracing.com/mm5/me...Code=STEAMVENT

KEVIN ANDERSON

Yes I have used it on the past 2 heads that I have rebuilt and installed. It really isn't a steam vent. Once the engine gets up to temperature it becomes a path for the coolant to flow. The hose is clear so you will see some steam at first then release some pressure and it becomes a solid flow of coolant. Definitely worth the little bit of work and small price for the kit. It's nice to know that the entire head is being completely filled with coolant and it's flowing nicely.

jvandyke

yep, bit of a misnomer, "coolant bypass" maybe a better name? I'm not doing it since the HG seems fine after all but the only concern for me is added plumbing and potential failure points introduced, more hoses and clamps=more possible issues, bursting that vent hose as it runs across the engine would not be good but if done well, I suppose pretty unlikely.

Wisconsin Joe

One more pile on:

The back of the head is a bit of a dead end for coolant flow.
The only way it really gets circulation is into the heater core.

So if you are running a car that never gets the heat turned on, running it hard has the potential to develop a 'steam bubble' towards the back. Many race car setups delete the heater core and run hard.

That can be really bad for the head gasket.

The 'steam vent' is just a circulation path to get the coolant out of the back of the head.

V2Rocket

^^ delete the heater, just loop the coolant outlet on the head, around the back of the cam tower, to the return pipe over the exhaust going back to the pump..

mazdaverx7

If this is something that is only being used when bleeding the cooling system, why not save the work and invest in an Air Lift coolant bleeder . I use one at work and it removes all air from the system using a vacuum and will fill the cooling system leaving it free of air pockets. It works great and I've never had an issue. Just throwing in my opinion here.

jvandyke

Ever been to Michigan? Heat is pretty much a necessity, even on a seasonal toy.

jvandyke

it's meant to be left in place and continual, always "venting"

V2Rocket

no, minnesota though!

but my comment was in response to the previous poster talking about racecars specifically who delete the heater core altogether.