Upon pulling-in to my carport I noticed a nice puddle forming quickly. Upon investigation, I saw coolant escaping from the engine between the head and block, just forward of the exhaust manifold. As seen here: (Camera positioned at driver-side fender, just above P/S fluid resevoir.)

Does it appear to be a simple head gasket failure, or something worse??
I only drove two short trips of 1.5 miles each the day this occured (I know there was no antifreeze under there the day before) A quick inspection of the dipstick shows NO sign of coolant in oil.
(edit: I don't have any white smoke from the exhaust. Just the same blue/gray I always get at startup for the last 50K miles)
I appreciate any advice.
Mark

 

you'll know if it's a head gasket because the engine runs like s... rumbles, can't idle worth crap, and blows white smoke.

 

If that's a HG leak, it's the most unusual one I've ever seen.

 

Its a HG AFAIK

Uncommon but not unheard of for them to leak outside of the block.

 

water pump maybe?

 

I dont think so.

If you are REALLY LUCKY, the cross behing water pipe that feeds the heater as a pinhole leak and its spraing the block... bu as I said - its doubtful.

HGs do blow to the outside... uncommon, but not unheard of

 

any tips on what I could possibly do to narrow down the cause/source before I tear off the head?

 

do a oil change to see if water has got into the oil check the hoses like stated earlier

from the pics it looks like a blown head my buddys blew out close to the same spot as those pics his was so bad that water was spraying out all over the exhaust pipe and steaming .
best of luck to you

 

It is possible that one of the bypass heater pipes is leaking (right under the P/S pump, up and forward of the dipstick), but there is definately a leak originating from the HG area ~1" forward of the forward-most exhaust manifold stud.

Removing the oil filler cap and dipstick show no sign of water in the oil.
I'll definately have to remove the P/S pump and to make that area a little less crowded and get a better look.

 

Do a pressure test. YOu can usually borrow one from a parts store like Autozone or something. Just make sure it has a cap that fits on your radiator. YOu basically pressurise your coolant system and should be able to see where it is leaking. YOu will have to check to see what pressure to pump it up to.

 

What was your buddy's solution? New HG and done? or did he have the head re-conditioned?

 

Is that what a "leak-down" test is? Just putting a cap on the radiator that has a valve to hook up air to?

 

that exact hose on my 22re had a pinhole leak about 3 months ago.
you wont be able to see the hole very well with a simple visial inspection.

let the engine run for a little and watch for the leak, it you still see nothing shut it off and watch carefully as it sits after running.

 

I thought a "leak down" test referred to something else but I'm not sure. Yes it is a cap that usually connects to a little handpump. It doesn't take much to get enough pressure in there. It will then start leaking and you should be able to pinpoint it. Definately do this before you start tearing into stuff.

 

A leak down test is when you place any piston at TDC, and you use a "leak down" gauge and pressurize the cylinder with both valves closed (this is why you put it at TDC). The gauge will show you how leakage that particular cylinder has, and you listen where the air is escaping, if you hear it out the exhaust, then you have a burnt/warped valve, if you hear it in the crankcase.....time for a complete overhaul.

If your lucky it is the heater hose that comes off the timing cover, usually guys will take that tube off for some repair and because it's gasket is a part of the whole left side timing cover gasket, it gets siliconed to death. Yea, your best bet is to get a cooling system pressure checker and pump it up to whatever (lb.) cap you have on the radiator. I would guess you have around a 13 lb. cap, so pump it up to at least that and grab yourself a bag of popcorn and a mirror and watch for leaks, if it is the H.G., when you finished the bag of popcorn, wash it all down with a few cases of beer and rip into her the next afternoon!!

Thanks

 

I had a similiar problem:



I had no mixing of fuids, no white smoke, and it ran like a champ. It just displaced a lot of coolant. I ended up having a warped head. I got the head milled and replaced the head gasket and now it doesn't leak or use a drop of coolant (Fixed it in January of this year)

Rob