Coolant leak

[Cobra]

i like the tip after the flush i'll seriously consider it i went to work and grabbed a new one, my boss just happened to be there and said they might be able to cover it for me back to work reinstalling it

edit: well ladies and gents it's end game one of the lower manifold bolts snapped while i was torquing it down

[lockdoc]

Argh! I just went through removing a broken intake bolt from the head of the engine going in my kids van. I was super careful to drill dead center. Then re tapped it. Good luck!

[Cobra]

i'm going to try everything except drilling it, if it was on a stand i'd try it but in the van it would be a miracle if i didn't totally mess it up lol

Edit: and the adventure continues i just got the broken bolt out everything is closed today so i can't get new bolts till tomorrow which sucks but better then towing it to my mechanic tomorrow
i've learned three valuable things
one if you know you need something don't hesitate (if i had picked up the bolts at first this job would be done)
two from now on when i'm messing with engines high stress items i will always replace (bolts,gaskets and so on)
three not giving up and staying calm pays off

that last one is by far the hardest lol

[blacknome]

so the bolt in the pic you had shown... can it possibly be in the water jacket ??? I pulled the doghouse off mine today and mine is wet around that bolt and I am trying to figure out why I loose the top quart of coolant. Only the coolant from the overflow goes missing and it trickles down the side of the block and drips off the oil-pan drain bolt. I can't see where it's coming from initally as the engine is so dirty.

I can smell the coolant burning off the manifold when the motor gets up to operating temp.

[blacknome]

NM, it's the intake gasket that's leaking. Right up top on the PS next to the throttle body. It seeps out once the motor run a little hot right along the seam where the valve cover is and downt he back of the head.

Mine is barely a trickle so I will throw some stop-leak in it and check it again in a week.

grrr I guess it's better to find it now than in jan

[Cobra]

that's almost exactly what mine was doing but i had a crack in the front passenger side of the lower manifold and it sprayed wildly at WOT. i have now completed the replacement and looking back at the job it's pretty easy.

[blacknome]

well I dropped it off at a shop by work here this morning. I went in initially to get the winter tires mounted on the spare rims for wifeys car and we got to talking.

He said for $20.00 he has some stop-leak tablets he said he has had good luck with ( he works on a lot of Astro/Safari vans for the local courier companies ). He said he will clamp off the heater hoses to the rear heat and disconnect the hoses to the heater core and loop them and run it with the stop leak for the day, use the van for coffe shop runs, parts runs, ect then reconnect everything at the EOD. Short of that he said the head gasket job will run me $400.00 if I pull the seats and the doghouse for him but mine is really only a trickle so he wants to try the stop leak first. However his fear is that if the gasket has been leaking internally that the bearings are probably on their way out ( which I am doubtful as I have done every single oil change on that van for the last 4 years and it always comes out looking good ).

[lockdoc]

I would never use a mechanic that would even suggest using a stop leak. I doesn't get any more unprofessional than that. What other short cuts is he going to make on your vehicles? He might be trying to save you a buck, but in reality he is not. The only time I would use a stop leak would be in an emergency if a got a hole in my radiator as a temporary fix.

[blacknome]

first off sorry if I hi-jacked the thread, just don't want to start a new one for a single post.

Ended up he had the van for the day and ran it around said it didn't leak for him at all. He called at the EOD and I asked him to put in the stop-leak anyways, so I drove it all weekend with no heat ( he clamped the lines ). Now the clamps are off and I have heat again and no leaks.

I know it's a ticking time bomb but it my mind the van is used 95% of the time as a DD for the whole >10 miles to work and back with 2 other cars to drive as a backup. So with that in mind I will take my chances and save the $400.00. It's not like I am saving any money by doing it now so I will keep an eye on the coolant level and wait until she blows.