Tubbyfatty

After weeks of thinking something was leaking in the back of the engine, I think I found where it was coming from.

Right behind that first bolt theres a small puddle, I used a q tip to soak up some of it and im pretty sure its coolant. All under there is red by the way.


To understand where im zoomed in at.


Coolant doesnt pass through the upper intake plenum does it? Could the water neck that goes through the front cover be leaking and throw coolant back there?

Can someone post a picture of the lower intake plenum on the engine please.

OutlawMike

No, coolant does not go through the plenum.

But coolant does go through the throttle body. There are two lines that attach to the throttle body. One of them is in your second picture, it is a vertical connection, then turns 90 degrees towards the TB. It might be that front hose or the pipe leaking.

Tubbyfatty

Alright so the TB lines ill check in a min.

"It might be that front hose or the pipe leaking." can you explain that please. lol.

OutlawMike

Pictures for you, the second is a good one for you. In the right side of that pic there is a vertical tube sticking up. That tube is connected to the TB by a hose. Also, you can see where the water upper idler pulley assembly bolts to the intake manifold, that could be leaking also.

My vote is for the hose or the tube that goes to the TB. I had to replace the hose on my two weeks ago. They sell them new at the dealer still.

Good luck

Tubbyfatty

Hey thanks!

Yea im leanin towards that hose or pipe too. I just checked the hose that goes to the back of the engine and TB, i cant see how it would lead to the front if it was leaking.

OutlawMike

No problem, hope it is that simple. Getting that front idler pulley/water neck assembly off involves pulling the timing belt, which is a major deal.

PM me if you need any more pics, I can give you access to my PhotoBucket account. I have about 200 pictures in there from my rebuild.

Good luck.

Tubbyfatty

The timing was changed before i got this so i really dont want to replace all that stuff haha.

Thanks again.

Tubbyfatty

So Ill update this for anyone who needs it for future searching.

The top idler for the timing belt was leaking. All the bolts were coated in coolant residue and I could see a mark of coolant going to the back and burning on the exhaust crossover.

I pulled the intake plenum (upper) and everything on the front. Sanded down where the idler meets the plenum (lower), threw some RTV on there and put everything back together.
I did not replace my timing belt or water pump because they were in great shape (probably a year old).
I did replace my idler (i think its called the #2) that goes up top between the cam pulleys since the old ones bearings were shot.
I then got the new gasket for the upper plenum (used a felpro from napa $5, way better then the old one that was on there)

Threw everything back together and she started right up. I did wait 24 hours before I ran it up to temp so the RTV can set up.

If anyone has to pull their 3VZE intake plenum, its really not that hard. Do some searching on here and you will see you do not have to remove alot of stuff before you pull it.

BoostinChick

You can leave all the hoses connected on the passenger side. I usually take off the TB for more clearance and to get the coolant bypass hoses off. Other than that it's pretty much unbolting all the throttle/cruise cables and the intake hose.

Tubbyfatty

i left everything hooked up on the pass side except the PCV and egr vac hose, i had my intake laying on my fender haha.

cell phone pics for the loss...



I also replaced my plug wires with NGKs. My old wires were melting on the heat shield and were really old.

OutlawMike

Too bad they did not replace that idler when they did the timing belt. A case in point to do it all when you are in there.

Glad it worked out for you, and now you know how to peel that onion that we call the 3.0.

Good work.