Mystery coolant leak onto top of inlet manifold

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amulheirn
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Mystery coolant leak onto top of inlet manifold

Post by amulheirn »

Hi all -
I thought I'd ask for some advice on this, but fairly certain I should take everything apart to check stuff.

I have a coolant leak that occasionally leaves a pool of blue coolant on top of the back corner of the inlet manifold on my car. There shouldn't be any coolant up that high on the engine as far as I am aware, apart from a crossover pipe in the middle of the manifold that I have marked on the photo below.

There is coolant in the heads of course, but there are no coolant passages open at the top of a cylinder head, and the top edge of the manifold is pretty much in line with tha. I've taken the rocker cover off on the passenger side to look for leaks or mayonnaise oil, but it all looks fine.

Annotated photo from manufacturer site:
weiand.gif
View across engine bay from driver's side:
pool1.gif
Top-down view on passenger side:
pool2.gif

What do you think? I'm not losing much. I can go for a drive and no steam or pools of anything are evident. I think this must happen after I've put locked the car up as it cools down or something.

I've just noticed that Holley say to re-torque the manifold every 6000 miles, so perhaps that's my next thing to do before dismantling it. Would be interested in other opinions though.

Cheers,

Andy
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Migge
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Re: Mystery coolant leak onto top of inlet manifold

Post by Migge »

Heater? Any heater pipes?
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amulheirn
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Re: Mystery coolant leak onto top of inlet manifold

Post by amulheirn »

Good thought, but I have the heater outlets plugged at the moment. Not had a chance to make the pipe to connect heater to engine unfortunately.

The pipes in the photos are from the PCV valve to the carb and from the filler cap to the carb, so no water in those either.
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Re: Mystery coolant leak onto top of inlet manifold

Post by peterc »

Hi Andrew, did you add any sealant around the coolant passages before bolting up the manifold. On the Rover set up it is suggested by an experienced mechanic that it is of benefit rather than rely on just the gasket.
I agree that it seems strange that the water is a fair distance away from the water ports.
I notice that the washer fluid is blue. I assume that can't have spilled across?
Again on the Rover set up there are only heater hose connections in that area. Following Migges comment you obviously need to check they are properly sealed up.
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amulheirn
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Re: Mystery coolant leak onto top of inlet manifold

Post by amulheirn »

Hi Peter,

To be honest, I can't remember but I think I used sealant. It's a while ago and I've forgotten. I might tighten things up and monitor it for a bit.

Definitely not washer fluid - I've tasted them both! :lol:


A.
peterc wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 10:54 am Hi Andrew, did you add any sealant around the coolant passages before bolting up the manifold. On the Rover set up it is suggested by an experienced mechanic that it is of benefit rather than rely on just the gasket.
I agree that it seems strange that the water is a fair distance away from the water ports.
I notice that the washer fluid is blue. I assume that can't have spilled across?
Again on the Rover set up there are only heater hose connections in that area. Following Migges comment you obviously need to check they are properly sealed up.
Peter C
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Re: Mystery coolant leak onto top of inlet manifold

Post by StewbieC »

K seal
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Re: Mystery coolant leak onto top of inlet manifold

Post by CobStang »

It looks like it may be coming up that last rear bolt on the manifold. There is no coolant passage in the manifold, but there is a live passage in the head. It is possible for coolant to track up the bolt and come out under the head of the bolt . You could draw it out and put some sealant under the bolt head / washer.
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Re: Mystery coolant leak onto top of inlet manifold

Post by amulheirn »

CobStang wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 7:16 pm It looks like it may be coming up that last rear bolt on the manifold. There is no coolant passage in the manifold, but there is a live passage in the head. It is possible for coolant to track up the bolt and come out under the head of the bolt . You could draw it out and put some sealant under the bolt head / washer.
Thanks - that's interesting. I didn't think anything went through from the manifold to the head. I'll try that next.

Tonight I just tightened up all the manifold bolts and got at least a half turn out of each with the torque wrench, so let's see if that sorts it!
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Re: Mystery coolant leak onto top of inlet manifold

Post by CobStang »

I don't think it does go from manifold to head, but the manifold blanks off the head, so the coolant might still be able to come up the bolt.
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