coolant leak

[Eastcoast SHO]

ok im about to get rid of this car i have had enough, i was driving today all of a sudden it overheats coolant everywhere, saw a huge trail behind me, the lower and upper hose is fine the radiator is fine, the plastic jug which holds the coolant is fine, when the car is running i see all kinds of leaks under the engine right below the oil pan and tranny, cannot follow source because as we know liquid finds the easiest route to travel, please help i am at my wits end i just put $4500 into it and i cant afford anymore, where can this be coming from? could this be a cracked block? is there another coolant line that i cant see? if so where is it? please somebody help me, i thought it might be the water pump weeping, but never saw a water pump weep like that

 

[ruWelded]

Coolant lines

Check the coolant lines at the oil cooler (right above the oil filter), also the heater core has two lines (behind and below the egr valve), also check the small coolant lines that connect to the throttle body and check the small hoses that come off the top of the cylinder heads (left side of engine to top of coolant reservoir). Don’t give up as you can see there are several places that could be leaking.

 

[Eastcoast SHO]

well i couldnt find anything yet it ****** like a sob when running but nothing when shut off

 

[SHOZ123]

Is the tank original? The only coolant leakage I have ever had was the cooler hose and that was because of the OEM spring clamp and the tank cracking on the bottom.

If the cap has been cross threaded too the replacement tanks are ruined too.

 

[Eastcoast SHO]

i would assume that the tank is original, but it is dry,leading me to believe it is somewhere around the water pump or the heater core, i will be looking for it today and give a update as to what i find

 

[shobote]

Be patient bro; since the rad is good, this fix will probably not cost much if anything; probably a cracked hose or loose clamp; I seriously doubt the block has any damage.
Did anybody remove the intake recently ?
if so, check all the coolant lines including the small ones under the intake going to the throttle body.

 

[SHOZ123]

You can't tell if the tank is leaking or if it is spewing out of the cap unless you remove the tank. If it is a black top tank it is probably all cracked on the bottom. If it cracks enough to not allow the system to maintain pressure it will spew run a lot hotter.

Water pumps are seldom a problem nor is the heater core. If your hoses are original I would change them all out. Change the coolant every two years and just use the cheap green stuff.

 

[Eastcoast SHO]

found the leak it was one of the small hoses under the intake but after i replaced it, put everything together, whole new world of problems, battery would not hold a charge, first it ran like shit bogged down and kept dying, then give it gas idle races to about 2500rpms and stays there, low coolant light still on, tank resevor is full its almost like its not even going into the engine, temp gauge gets halfway, i seriously dont know whats wrong with it, and just about done with it, drove it and it drives fine but i dont know why all these problems started happening after i changed only the hose, any help would be appreciated before i just get rid of this thing

 

[SHOZ123]

Did you take the intake off? Low coolant light is a stuck switch in the tank. New tank or disconnect the wire to turn the light off.

 

[Eastcoast SHO]

yes i took the intake off, i had to ,to get to the small hose(is there something i did wrong?) i thought it might be a switch in a tank but for some reason couldnt find a wire to it,any pics would be helpful

 

[SHOZ123]

The idle sounds like a major vacuum leak. The switch connects on the bottom of the tank.

 

[Eastcoast SHO]

which vacuum hose on bottom of tank i checked and rechecked because i ran into that problem before and everything is hooked up, it is running fine when it drives even when i come to a stop it idles fine, its only when its in park or neutral it races, but did i miss anything when i put the intake back on i tighten the crap out of the bolts so dont belive there is air leaking in there, do you have any tips(i ask this because you asked if i pulled it off)

 

[SHOZ123]

Did you clean off the intake gaskets and then repaint them, assembling the intake while they were still wet. Did you properly torque the intake in the proper sequence? Are you sure ALL the vacuum hoses are connected?

 

[Eastcoast SHO]

ok maybe this is where i messed up first all the vaccum hoses are connected but what is the proper sequence and torque for the intake bolts?

 

[SHOZ123]

To take off start on the ends, then alternating ends, work towards the middle. To put on do the opposite. Torque values are very small and I only use a 1/4" drive socket wrench, tighten slightly, move on to the next in the sequence, repeat three times. 14-20 lb/ft is the spec.

 

[Eastcoast SHO]

ill try it and see if it makes a difference thanks, now is the coolant supposed to drop in the tank whenit goes through the block i know i lost alot of fluid, then i fill up the tank and it hasnt moved im kind of scared that the fluid is not going through engine is it supposed to be like this i dont see any fluid move in the tank even after running for a half hour

 

[SHOZ123]

Keep the tank 100% full. It will drop after a heat/cool cycle. Then when cool fill it up again.

 

[Eastcoast SHO]

thats what i thought but it has never dropped i watched it for a half hour saw temp guaeg go up halfway, fans kick on but fluind does not move

 

[SHOZ123]

Did the engine cool down to ambient temp?

 

[Eastcoast SHO]

the temp gauge went higher than it normally does but not overheat, i just havent seen any movement in the tank, like i said it is starting to scare me