So as you may recall I did my headgaskets a while back. I had 2 leaks one internal from the rear cylinder head and one external from what I thought was the front of the drivers side cylinder head. I did my head gaskets and my leaks disappeared and it passed a pressure test.

Now fast forward a few months I am getting the same front coolant leak it looks like it is from the head gasket but when I follow the leak up it is not. The coolant is pooling up on top of the water pump (drivers side) right below the rubber end seals of the valley gasket.

I'm trying to figure out if this is a leak from the:

1) valley gasket (since it is at the bottom of the "valley" though it would be oil not coolant? I thought the coolant pipe is higher)
2) Water pump gasket
3) Top of front engine cover gasket.

Now here is the kicker I took it to a garage that pressure tested it before (said to come back if it leaked again and they would test it for free) and it passed the pressure test so I cannot replicate the leak.

Anyone have any thoughts or ever seen anything similar? I'm going to pull off the AC compressor to get a better look and replace the water pump gasket and tighten the valley pan but. The front cover looks like fun to get off.

 

You have been around long enough to know to go get it pressure tested.
Let us know what you find.

 

If you read the whole post Mike you will see it passed a pressure test and the leak disappeared.

 

Read your thread, you had it tested a couple months ago, and with a Rover, a lot can happen in a couple of months.

 

No I went today and had it tested after I discovered the leak. It seems to have gotten plugged up, hence the sneaky part in the title.

 

I'm experiencing something similar. In the event it did pass a pressure test then perhaps you're experiencing a low pressure leak? You might want to check: water pump( the front cover unit that attaches to it. It's where it bolts to the front of the block. Check the tightness of front cover bolts.) Also might want to check the throttle body heater plate gasket as well as the valley pan gasket. Good luck - RR.

 

I just torqued up all the bolts I could reach. Throttle body heater plate is new and I checked it. I think I jinxed myself because I ordered a 36mm wrench yesterday for the waterpump just to have it handy.

I guess I'm leaning towards front cover gasket because the coolant is pooling behind the water pump gasket but hopefully it is a simple as re-installing a valley pan gasket or a water pump gasket. I don't have time for a front cover gasket. It's really weird though that it is holding pressure after I was under the truck watching the coolant pour down the front the engine not even 45 minutes earlier.

 

Coolant will leak from the valley gasket. More common is for it to leak at the rear of the valley but I could leak up front also. You may have something expanding when the engine is hot and allowing the coolant to leak. Is the pooling getting larger as you drive it? Co

 

It was flowing pretty good when the engine was hot and then dripping when the engine was cool. Then I added more coolant started the the truck back up and it stopped, drove over to the mechanic and it passed a pressure test.