Coolant problems
#1
Coolant problems
Well, after nearly a year, the old girl's getting a touch cranky.
I replaced a water pump, regular readers will recall, after its bearings died and it ate my serp. Not too long later, I replaced the radiator, and after that, it was running pretty decent; I needed to top the coolant maybe every other month.
Recently, I developed a leak on what my mech described as some coolant passthrough fitting under the throttle body; is that the valley pan of which I read?
He replaced the unit and its gasket, and I went about 6 weeks and had to top off again, and then today...
today I pulled up to a building and shut down, and heard sizzling. Opened the hood, and I had *something* dripping down from the left-rear of the engine onto the O2 sensor and pipe.
Since I wasn't overcome by clouds of grey smoke, I assume this was coolant, though I do have a slight oil leak in that neighborhood as well, that's getting the rearmost spark plug boot wet.
Anyone care to speculate on the most likely candidate?
I guess I'm almost hoping for oil, cause that could be valve cover/gasket, whereas coolant has a fairly high likelihood of being head gaskets, which I cannot *afford* to deal with just now, being unemployed.
I see that the gasket kit is only about the $180 I had expected, but I have neither sufficient tools nor experience to pull heads without an elmer.
I'm going to spray clean the engine tonight; I'll try and nail down tighter where the leak is coming from... but when I let it cool today and topped it off, the leak did not recur -- I infer that it's a leak that only blows under the additional overpressure of low coolant, which might make it harder to spot (I don't have a pressure tester; can you borrow those from Autozone?).
I replaced a water pump, regular readers will recall, after its bearings died and it ate my serp. Not too long later, I replaced the radiator, and after that, it was running pretty decent; I needed to top the coolant maybe every other month.
Recently, I developed a leak on what my mech described as some coolant passthrough fitting under the throttle body; is that the valley pan of which I read?
He replaced the unit and its gasket, and I went about 6 weeks and had to top off again, and then today...
today I pulled up to a building and shut down, and heard sizzling. Opened the hood, and I had *something* dripping down from the left-rear of the engine onto the O2 sensor and pipe.
Since I wasn't overcome by clouds of grey smoke, I assume this was coolant, though I do have a slight oil leak in that neighborhood as well, that's getting the rearmost spark plug boot wet.
Anyone care to speculate on the most likely candidate?
I guess I'm almost hoping for oil, cause that could be valve cover/gasket, whereas coolant has a fairly high likelihood of being head gaskets, which I cannot *afford* to deal with just now, being unemployed.
I see that the gasket kit is only about the $180 I had expected, but I have neither sufficient tools nor experience to pull heads without an elmer.
I'm going to spray clean the engine tonight; I'll try and nail down tighter where the leak is coming from... but when I let it cool today and topped it off, the leak did not recur -- I infer that it's a leak that only blows under the additional overpressure of low coolant, which might make it harder to spot (I don't have a pressure tester; can you borrow those from Autozone?).
#3
#4
#5
"Well, I can understand how it sucks to be in that situation, but you're likely gonna find out you really do need gaskets" would be a starter.
Followed by your leak dye suggestion; I'd forgotten about that stuff, thanks.
See? A helpful response that doesn't amount to "I didn't really bother to read your posting". It *is* possible.
Followed by your leak dye suggestion; I'd forgotten about that stuff, thanks.
See? A helpful response that doesn't amount to "I didn't really bother to read your posting". It *is* possible.
#6
If you haven't already:
Check all of your hose clamps to make sure they are tight and/or replace them with worm clamps. I had the "missing coolant mystery" until one day I noticed one of the crappy stock clamps had failed and it was dripping out slowly.
Also tighten down your valve covers, I had a decent amount of oil seeping out ,exactly where you are describing, when I bought the truck, switched over to synthetic oil, tightened down the valve covers, pressure washed the engine and voila! Gone!
"Recently, I developed a leak on what my mech described as some coolant passthrough fitting under the throttle body; is that the valley pan of which I read?"
--->are you talking about the throttle body heater plate & gasket???? That is a pretty "routine" fix for DII's so I wouldn't worry too much about that.
P.S. - Make sure you check for coupons for pixie dust, it is expensive! Good luck finding your solution
Check all of your hose clamps to make sure they are tight and/or replace them with worm clamps. I had the "missing coolant mystery" until one day I noticed one of the crappy stock clamps had failed and it was dripping out slowly.
Also tighten down your valve covers, I had a decent amount of oil seeping out ,exactly where you are describing, when I bought the truck, switched over to synthetic oil, tightened down the valve covers, pressure washed the engine and voila! Gone!
"Recently, I developed a leak on what my mech described as some coolant passthrough fitting under the throttle body; is that the valley pan of which I read?"
--->are you talking about the throttle body heater plate & gasket???? That is a pretty "routine" fix for DII's so I wouldn't worry too much about that.
P.S. - Make sure you check for coupons for pixie dust, it is expensive! Good luck finding your solution
#7
I did in fact mean that heater plate, Rob, yes; thanks.
I'll go over all the hoses and clamps again, and I'm going to pressure clean the engine and put in some dye, and I'll see what I get.
Is that dye generally UV sensitive? Cause I have a blacklight fluorescent handy...
And I have pixie dust in stock, as it happens; bought a bulk package while I was still working. :-)
I'll go over all the hoses and clamps again, and I'm going to pressure clean the engine and put in some dye, and I'll see what I get.
Is that dye generally UV sensitive? Cause I have a blacklight fluorescent handy...
And I have pixie dust in stock, as it happens; bought a bulk package while I was still working. :-)
#9
#10
I agree with the head gaskets being a definite possibility, and strongly agree with either the coolant dye, or a pressure test. The sizzle on the exhaust? My vehicle has a sizzle from drips on the exhaust every night after I pull in the garage, but it is water from the A/C evaporator dripping onto the catalytic converter, which is perfectly normal.
I did not intend that sizzle comment to be smart assed in any way, just factual. I don't think any auto parts stores rent a pressure test kit, as there would be too many adapters to fit different vehicles, but the dye is cheap, and a black light is useful when using the dye. Tracerline dye part # TP-3900-0601 for the small bottles.
I did not intend that sizzle comment to be smart assed in any way, just factual. I don't think any auto parts stores rent a pressure test kit, as there would be too many adapters to fit different vehicles, but the dye is cheap, and a black light is useful when using the dye. Tracerline dye part # TP-3900-0601 for the small bottles.