ayoung101

i've been dealing with my coolant leak for too long now, so i finally decided to try to fix it now that i'm laid off and bored at home. it's not getting into the oil (i have black oil) and it's not getting into the combustion chamber (no smoke). it's just leaking and therefore i've just been adding coolant when the heat suddenly starts blowing cold and/or when the temp guage suddenly starts to rise from the midway point. i don't know exactly where the leak is coming from, hence why i'm writing this. it's coming from somewhere on the exhaust side of the engine (22re), near the front, above the dipstick (according to some green evidence that i can see). i fear that it's a head gasket leak. but at the same time, i'm wondering if maybe it could be water pump related? the water pump is pretty close in latitude from where this appears to be. also, what the heck is that pipe that goes horizontally, front to back, under the exhaust manifold right about in the head gasket area? is that coolant related? check the pics. i haven't figured out how to add pics that are bigger than 48kb, so they are small and kinda hard to see. but i have the fullsize ones if needed.

bipolarandproud

To me it looks like it could be leaking from a freeze plug .I have no idea of what that pipe is ..lol I should know .

ayoung101

uhhhh, what's a freeze plug? what does it look like? and how do i fix it?

toyota4x4907

That "unknown" tube is a coolant passage to the firewall or rear of engine, I think.

bipolarandproud

Where I made the Black dot is the freeze plug . A freeze plug is an expansion plug located in the side of an engine block that is supposed to protect the block against freeze damage. Water expands when it turns to ice, and if the coolant doesn't have enough antifreeze protection it can freeze and crack the engine block.

After looking closer .. it look like its leaking from the head gasket . I used a black arrow also to point out where I think it's leaking from . .

abecedarian

that "unknown tube" is the return from the heater core (back to the water pump).

Since the leak is above that tube, I'd have to say it looks like a head gasket leak.

ayoung101

well, like i said, i was afraid it was a head gasket leak. i hope you're (we're) wrong. i'm far too lazy to do a job like that in mid winter.

mt_goat

Well if you're going to store it until Spring, might want to at least change the oil.

ayoung101

i'm not going to store it, i'm going to drive it. and add more coolant as necessary. i was just hoping it might be a simple fix.

any other ideas on where the leak might be coming from? i'm hoping for some good news here. . . .

abecedarian

Though I'm not a big fan of them, one of the radiator leak sealing additives may help prolong the inevitable. And if you're going to tear it apart anyways and fix it, it may be worth it. Maybe even try the pepper-in-the-radiator trick or the raw-egg-white-in-the-radiator trick before going to the bars-leak or aluma-seal. (Personally, I've had good luck with the pepper trick on a VW Scirocco I used to own.)

mt_goat

If you do any of this, make sure you never open your heater valve while you have that stuff in there. Replacing the heater core is a PITA. Also you'll probably clog up your radiator too.

abecedarian

That was a disclaimer I should've included.... but the pepper trick does work (my experience) on pinhole leaks and doesn't accelerate electrolysis like the over-the-counter leak stoppers do... and creates an interesting odor from the coolant.

Thanks Dale.

and if you're going to use a stop-leak additive, add it in small quantities after the engine has warmed up and with the heater on high so it doesn't coagulate in the heater core or on the flow valve for the heater.

Better?

ayoung101

the problem with the stop leak products (other than the fact that they are designed to clog, and that means ANYTHING, not just the problem spot), they are all specific to where the hole is located. (they have a special one for the radiator, a special one for the head gasket, etc). i haven't figured out where the hole is yet.

i'm thinking of cleaning the area real good and then maybe temporarily removing the thermostat (so the coolant pumps freely through the system as soon as i turn the engine on) and then i can stick my hands around there while the engine is still cool, and hopefully find a leak point. obviously i couldn't do this on a hot engine, hence temporarily removing the thermostat. any thoughts?

abecedarian

the 'head gasket' specific sealants are usually some boro-silicate mix meant to harden around the cylinders and fix the leaks that occur into the cylinder.
the 'radiator' oriented sealants are meant to seal around pretty much everything else.

ayoung101

hmmmmm. any risk of it damaging something else in the process? it's not getting into the cylinders, so that's good. it IS a giant PITA to always have to add coolant. maybe i should just fix it properly. anyone in the detroit area available to help?