Rad fluid leak

[Scotto]

OK. Got a rad fluid leak. It's dripping out over the arm of the oil filter. I cannot figure out where it is coming from.

The fluid is clear and has no oil in it. Just dripping out.

Any ideas?

Scotto


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[Snafu]

Clear not the greenish-yellow?

If it is not leaking at the clamps on either end of the rad hoses/heater hoses then there might be a pinhole in the rad. When the coolant is hot and under pressure you could see it flow more (if not a small stream). When cool it appears as a slow leak.

Had a pinhole leak in an old dodge. Found it after the steering started acting up when the stream sprayed right on the power steering pump causing the belt to slip.

[Scotto]

No its greenish yellow. By clear I meant not contaminated. I am going to have a good look tomorrow.


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[Scotto]

Cleaned the engine tonight to try and pinpoint the leak. It's weird.


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[buttsy]

You're weird

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[Snafu]

Just a thought, wait until it is dark and shine a UV/blacklight under the hood. The coolant should show up better.

[Adam]

Check the weep hole on the water pump. Other than that the usual other things is could be are the thermostat housing, or the little bypass hose beside the distributor.

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[Scotto]

Seems to be leaking out the bottom of the timing belt cover. So probably the weep hole in the water pump or a bypass under that cover. Shouldn't harm anything if I leave it alone. Not taking the front of the engine off to fix a little drop off rad fluid.


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[Adam]

The bad part is the coolant will fark up the timing belt if you let it go too long. You can check the bypass hose if you look from the top to the left of the distributor. You will see a little elbow of a hose. That's the bypass hose. It can be changed without taking everything apart, I've done it. Bit of a pita. Mine failed in a Tim's drive through, was pissing coolant everywhere.

[Snafu]

^The timing belt is what I would be worried about. I hope it is not affected and it is the by-pass hose. Coolant is pretty slippery stuff.

[Adam]

Honestly if it is the water pump I would just do it and the t-belt now, while the weather is still half decent. I'm not sure if you've ever done one before Scott, but it is a good Saturday project. Takes me about 4 hours start to finish. About a 4 beer job. Coolant and oil contaminate the timing belt and cause it to crack and it will skip teeth.

Good luck!

[Scotto]

Update. I pulled the skid plates and had a better look. It's not the water pump. Fluid is coming down from the top. It pools under the dizzy and makes its way over the oil filter. So. Either the bypass for dizzy (which I can't seem to see) or one of those hoses under the intake manifold.


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[Snafu]

Try as I might, I could find any reference to a 'dizzy'. Must be one of those bag pipe thingies but I have no idea why it is under the hood :p

I have an inspection camera you could try to have a look. I will likely head into the zoo for some shopping this weekend if you want to meet up.

[Adam]

This is the bypass hose, you can see it if you look directly from the top behind the timing belt covers, to the left of the dizzy. And you should be able to see the bottom part of it from an angle through where the idler pulleys are for the AC.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vqc7p7jdj88og ... 2.jpg?dl=0

This pic is from my pathfinder, but it is the same as the X. It's the elbow in the centre of the pic.

[Miner]

Try as I might, I could find any reference to a 'dizzy'. Must be one of those bag pipe thingies but I have no idea why it is under the hood :p

I have an inspection camera you could try to have a look. I will likely head into the zoo for some shopping this weekend if you want to meet up.

Distributor, an old fashion device used to share one ignition "spark" among all the cylinders .

[Scotto]

Adam - Oh, that hose! No, it ain't that one. By dizzy by-pass I was thinking something under it, up closer to the intake manifold.

This one has me stumped.

[Scotto]

Alright. Found it. Lower intake manifold gasket. It's leaking when the truck is cold, then it stops when the parts warm up and seal, which makes it tough to find as you might imagine.


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[Adam]

Damn, that sucks. Are you going to dive in now? Or nurse it along till spring?

[Scotto]

I think I'll just take it to Milton Nissan in January to get it done. It's cold now.

[Scotto]

This has been fixed. I tightened a few bolts, and with a fair bit of humming and hawing, used a 1/4 bottle of copper rad fluid stop leak. The engine has over 400,000 on it. I figured it would be fine.

No issues.


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