Antifreeze on Intake!

[Vettefan87]

Well I am stumped on this one guys. I don't see any antifreeze leaking on the ground underneath the car or anything. I dried it up with a paper towel, and will see how soon it comes back I guess. Any suggestions?

 

[Edmond]

That is weird, you can't see where it dripped from! I'm sure someone here has an answer but it isn't me.

I was going to suggest throttle body but that doesn't look possible.

 

[wishuwerehere82]

Look like it was dripping down the side of the larger pipe from somewhere above. Can you get a wider view of that area?

I think that smaller tube is coolant line to the throttle body or intake manifold.

 

[74bigblock]

Or use MS Paint to draw circles and label the items we can see in the picture. Not to familiar with the L98's.

 

[Vettefan87]

I will try to snap a pick tomorrow before I have to go to work, and post it when I get home. If we don't get all this snow we are supposed to get :cry .

Edmond do you know what the tube is there that is a little above and off the the right of the runner?

 

[Mart]

That's on the passenger side right between the runners below the EGR runner.

This is definatly a intake manifold gasket leak (Been there done that) the only other possability is the coolant is coming from a bolt, I would start with checking the bolt right where the leak is, if it's loose put some sealer on it and tighten to spec, do the same with all the others.

My leak looked the same, what you don't see is where it may actually be coming from, which is closer to the back of the intake.

There is no coolant in the above parts other then the TB and you would see coolant elsewhere.

Mart

 

[Mart]

Here is a shot of mine with some details, hope it helps.

Mart

 

[Vettefan87]

It better not be the Intake manifold gasket. All that stuff was done less than 1100 miles ago when the motor was rebuilt. My brother once said that the same thing showed up on his car, he dried it and it never came back. I will have to check the bolts and see if any are loose. And yes it is on the passenger side.

 

[Mart]

Did you use any sealer when you did the intake, on bolts and around coolant passages?

 

[Vettefan87]

I did not put the intake back on the car. I am going to have to make some phone calls this week. I can't remember if the person who rebuilt my motor put the intake, runners fuel rails etc... on the car, or if the place that dropped the motor back in did it.

 

[Mart]

These intake are prone to leak there if not sealed right, enquired here as to what guys were using and most said (Right Stuff - follow the link ) since then no problems.

There are not too many places for these things to leak, the odds are....

http://www.permatex.com/products/prodidx.asp?automotive=yes&f_call=get_item&item_no=33694

 

[Vettefan87]

Thanks for the speedy response Mart. You may have confirmed my worse fear, but I still have hope. I check all the bolts on the intake and see if it comes back, and just keep my fingers crossed I guess. Then go from there. Thanks again.

 

[Mart]

No problem, I hope you can just tighten things up and go.

Take care
Mart

 

[Vettefan87]

Yeah, no doubt. If not I am going to rip someones head off. ad

 

[cntrhub]

You can do one of two things. Clean that area dry one more time, or if it's dry now, just light up the car, pop a brew, and just let the car idle and watch the area as the car warms up. The leak might start in as soon as the engine temp warms up, and pressurizes the engine by heating the coolant.
Best way to chase the leak is with a coolant checker. Pressurize the gauge close to the red danger mark, and within 10 minutes or less (normally) the leak will show up under pressure. The pressure tester acts as a hot running engine.
I wonder if the assembler used the thread coat (sealer) when reinstalling the torx style intake bolts? It could be coming out of that (intake) bolt?

 

[Vettefan87]

Yeah, I think that is what Mart was saying, that if they didn't use sealer on the bolt then that might be the cause. I might do that on Tuesday, and see if I can see anything coming out of anywhere. Thanks for the ideas.

 

[cash's90]

I had the same problem almost immediately after replacing my intake gaskets. I also had an oil leak at the rear of the manifold. I made two mistakes that caused the problems. 1. I did not apply enough silicon on the "china wall" at the rear of the manifold. 2. I did not apply a sealant around the coolant passages.
More silicon (Permatex Black) solved the oil leak problem. A coat of Permatex Hi-Tack around the coolant passages solved the coolant leak problem.
I also replaced the Torx type manifold screws with grade 8 flange head hex cap screws which greatly simplified torquing down the manifold.

 

[vetteboy86]

Mine had some coolant in the same spot. I was sure it was the intake leaking, but once I dried it, that area stayed dry. Even to this day. I hope this doesn't become a problem for him, or %$#@ will hit the fan. Well we will see if it comes back.

Craig

 

[Vettefan87]

Well my day just got horribly worse then I wanted it to. I guess I know have two leaks.

This is on the drivers side, all the way at the front by the TB.

But what I can't figure out is, how did coolant get into the threads on the torx screw? I am going to go out and hunt the lines that run above it and see if any are coolant lines.

Edit* The bolt is the second from the front.

 

[Vettefan87]

I could not find anything leaking above the bolt. And I also seen the area around the bolt leaking.