Hey all,

So I've been dealing with an invisible coolant loss problem, and up until this point I've just been refilling it and driving anyway. Well, my invisible coolant loss appears to have turned into a visible coolant loss, and it's... unfortunate. As you can see from the picture, there is coolant leaking from the back of the engine on both sides of the transmission. I know it's coolant because I tasted it, and then tasted my antifreeze, and then did that another 2 times just to be sure. Don't judge me.

Anyway, based on what I've read, this is either a valley pan gasket or a head gasket. The fact that it's dripping off both sides makes me think it's a valley pan gasket, but I figured I'd check in with the experts before I started tearing the car down. Any thoughts?

 

get under the truck and point a flashlight up. it's easy to see up the block. look for coolant dripping. rhino ramps are like $50 from autozone and rated to 12000 lbs to make it a little more comfortable since your truck doesn't look lifted. my guess would be an external head gasket leak. the coolant runs up passages on the back of the block on both sides. that is a lot of coolant loss. I would stop driving it. the water jacket is the long opening between the two head bolt holes on the right side of the engine (aka the back of the engine by the firewall) in the below image.

 

That was my initial thought, but it seems odd that both head gaskets would go simultaneously? It's basically dripping off the transmission on both sides. I checked the back of the heads, but I didn't see anything. Not that the amount of oil caked on makes it easy to see. Thanks, prior owner who didn't clean their PCV valve.

 

You mean the prior owner who didn't clean the OEM baffle. My mod is the only actual PCV on a D2/P38.

The valley pan gasket can leak like that, but usually you can spot the rear of the valley pan gasket being wet. If it's a HG it's not that big of a deal. The Atlantic British video is good to watch and with all the proper tools it's totally possible to do it over a weekend if you don't have to send the heads off to get serviced/decked.

 

I'm not entirely sure how to get eyes on the back of the valley pan gasket. Is that something you can see from underneath?

 

You can spy on the valley pan gasket from the top but you'll have to get creative if you have SAI as it adds more stuff in the way lol.

 

Yea you won't be able to see it from below. Taking the upper intake manifold off isn't too hard and would let you have a little better view of the valley pan.

You could also try and wipe the back of the head where it meets the block, just to see if that's wet.

 

Had this same thing on a truck, previous owner had the lifters changed at the dealer during a previous service and the tech did a **** job, did not use enough silicone at the corners and it leaked front and rear even with the PCV mod done (after the fact). Once I had the lower intake off I just went ahead and did the HG "while I was there".

 

Thanks guys. I'll go back in with an inspection camera and take another look when it's not 18 degrees and snowing.