Help w/ coolant leak.

[jrschultz]

I have a very slow coolant leak that seams to be coming from the left side of the front of the engine if your looking at the front of the car. I can't see where it is coming from, but the underside of the engine area is wet. There is a small puddle after a full day. When I start it up I can see the small drips. I checked the hoses, and they seem to be fine. I haven't yet got it up on a lift to get a real close look. I checked the radiator level, and it was slightly low, so I toped it off with 50/50 dexcool. I did notice that the previous owner must have used green non dexcool fluid. Is that a problem? Any ideas? Oh, and can I try radiator stop-leak, or is that a bad idea?

[BobbyZ72]

Re: Help w/ coolant leak.

If it has green you MUST stick with green. and do not use stop leak, unless you want to gum up your radiator and coat your entire engine with the stuff.

[Camaroingfool]

Re: Help w/ coolant leak.

sounds like a lower intake gasket thats gone bad, or it culd be the hard plastic elbow thats on the lower intake, it corrodes, and falls apart, at least mine did. try looking at that. replacing the gaskets isnt too hard of a job if you know a little about your car. if it turns out to be that, let me know and I can give you some pointers.

[BLLDOGG]

Re: Help w/ coolant leak.

Camarofool is correct about what it most likely is. I would recommend flushing and switching back to dexcool if that is what your car requires. I will not go into why in this post but lets just say that GM engineers know a tad bit more than most on this board. The car is engineered for dexcool.

[jrschultz]

Re: Help w/ coolant leak.

I will be flushing and switching back to dexcool after discovering it doesn't have it in there right now. My car has 70K miles on it. Does that narrow it down at all as far as the gasket goes or do those fail at any time? Is the plastic elbow a least expensive fix or vice-versa?

[BLLDOGG]

Re: Help w/ coolant leak.

no, mileage really doesnt matter. I dont think its an expensive part but i could be wrong. havent replaced one on an f-body before.

[Camaroingfool]

Re: Help w/ coolant leak.

well im pretty sure you have to take the intakes apart to get the plastic elbow in there, its very hard plastic and doesnt bend. it was like a 13 dollar part. I even had trouble getting it to work when i had the intakes off.its at a very awkward spot. its sorta behind the belt tensioner assembly. maybe it could be done without taking off the intakes, im not sure.

[jrschultz]

Re: Help w/ coolant leak.

I was at my friend's house for an hour and a half after I started this thread. When I left there was no puddle on his driveway. I got home, left the car running, and looked underneath with a flashlight. No leaks. I turned the car off and re-checked. No leaks. There's no reason the car would leak coolant if its too low is it? Now that the level is where it should be its not leaking...at least not within the last 2 hours. What the heck?

[av6xperience]

Re: Help w/ coolant leak.

water pump??? might be wrong

[ma4life]

Re: Help w/ coolant leak.

How is your temp? You might not be leaking now that much 'cause there's air in the system and circulation may be poor. As far as that elbow goes ... you do not have to take the intakes off, just the tensioner assembly. It connectes the intake to the tensioner. I want to say it cost me $8.00 for the part and about 30 minutes to replace. The biggest problem was getting the old pieces out after they broke just behind the o-ring. If you get a new one, you'll know what I'm talking about. When mine was leaking, I could see it right between the intake and the block on the passenger side just to the right of the tensioner assy. Good Luck

[jrschultz]

Re: Help w/ coolant leak.

How is your temp? You might not be leaking now that much 'cause there's air in the system and circulation may be poor. As far as that elbow goes ... you do not have to take the intakes off, just the tensioner assembly. It connectes the intake to the tensioner. I want to say it cost me $8.00 for the part and about 30 minutes to replace. The biggest problem was getting the old pieces out after they broke just behind the o-ring. If you get a new one, you'll know what I'm talking about. When mine was leaking, I could see it right between the intake and the block on the passenger side just to the right of the tensioner assy. Good Luck

My temp is fine. Right at normal level even on long distances. I'll be taking my car to a friend's house today who has a oil pit. I'll be able to get a close look at everything to try to figure out where the leak is. I'll let you all know what I come up with. Thanx for the help thus far.

[jrschultz]

Re: Help w/ coolant leak.

Problem solved...You were right guys...It was the plastic elbow that connects to the block. I also have fresh Dexcool in the car in place of the green fluid. Thanx for the help.

[th3shuck]

Re: Help w/ coolant leak.

when i got my coolant leak fixed it was comming from the bottom of the black hoses. I brought it in..they said it was a broken flush tee...they put a new one on and when i got home it was leaking again. this repeated 1 more time then they told me the hoses were to weak and couldnt hold the flush tees. I ended up having to get two new hoses at 80 bucks a piece but they didnt charge me labor because they ****ed up two times and they topped it off for free. But for my coolant leak it was comming from the way bottom of the hoses. of the hoses on the left side because i had to look very hard to see it. Its not a cheap fix!

[ma4life]

Re: Help w/ coolant leak.

Glad to see you got it fixed ... good job. :)