Fixing small cracks on aluminum engine parts

I pulled off my cover to my stator, and BEHOLD! THERE WAS A FRIGGIN CRAKE AT THE VERY BOTTOM! I had just started to degrease the engine because of caked oil and dirt everywhere, and I feared that maybe there was a something more serious going wrong with the engine. Good news, there isn't. Bad news, there's a crack on the stator cover....How can I fix it with out getting a used stator cover? mig or tig it, jb weld....what is something that will work very well?

i've had good luck with jb weld in the past but depending on the size of your wallet i probably would look for anew or quality used one as ive never had any luck welding crack up in oil soaked alloy plus the extra heat can and often will warp the gasket surfaces so then you would have to machine it true again.if you jb weld it give it lots of time to cure and try to do both sides of the crack internal and external.

yeah i dont know where to find another stator cover....I've been looking on ebay...I will JB it, and if that doesn't work...then i will tig it...

what motor thought i saw one on e-bay.
how duz jb weld hold up to heat?

Here's my three cents. The best stuff I have ever used to repair or patch alum. is called Devcon. It comes in two cans, mix them together and it starts smoking. (it makes you feel evil) I have seen other people patch cases and even make new fins to replace old broken ones. It comes in three different types. Alum, Steel, Cast Iron. People have even used it to patch blocks on tracters. The only hold back is it costs about $25.00 or so! (yes you can get a new cover cheaper) But the two cans will last you for a long time. Maybe not if you blow up alot of stuff.

devcon does work well we sometimes use it to raise the floors in the intake ports when porting the reason i suggested the jb weld is that it's readaly available and it does hold up quite well to oils and heat and it is easy to work with [filing and sanding] and would cause any distortion like welding would and also everybody has heard of it or used it at some time in there lives.

Devcon Aluminum Liquid F-2

makers of permatex.....is this the stuff...it's 45 bones

Darkangel wrote:

Devcon Aluminum Liquid F-2

makers of permatex.....is this the stuff...it's 45 bones

Never used liquid, it's a paste. I don't about permatex...It could be that high in price. Just put that out there for those who don't know.

Not to highjack the thread but do you think that devcon would hold this very good? would it be sturdy enough to fix this?

twfields79; I would have that welded. It won't cost much, and you won't have to worry about it breaking again. Ed

Okay well wouldnt that be braizing? And you think it would be fairly inexpensive?

Not brazing. That piece looks like aluminum, but I can't tell for sure. If it is, aluminim can be welded using Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) - also known as stick electrode welding or Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) or Gas Tungsten Arc Welding process (GTAW) - also know by old guys like me as heliarc welding. Welded aluminum is very strong. It shouldn't cost much to have that small piece done, but call around first to get pricing. Ed