Water leak. Think its the pump. Help! - FIXED

[montysport01]

Long story short, I'm in a hurry to get this fixed.

Had a huge puddle of water under my truck yesterday after work. I've had a slight water leak for a few days and now its hit the fan. It was dark when I got home but I looked over everything I could with a flashlight and couldn't tell much, but I could see coolant/oil all over the bottom of the motor.

I know my front cam seals leak, that's for another time.

I just got done taking the intake plenum off, bad news. All along the gasket was water. Not much but I could see enough green to realize water has leaked into the intake.

I'm no car mechanic but how can this happen?

Secondly from what I read if I have coolant in the V-channel itself, the water pump is leaking? Or the O-rings for the water pump? Either way its full. I ran the truck for about 10 minutes before I took it all apart and the lost a half gallon of water easy.

So what am I looking at? And if the water pump is the problem can I just replace it and not the rest of the timing parts? Maybe just the pump and the belt? I have a tension-er I can use. But I don't know enough of the timing to feel comfortable with it. I'm sure I can, but i don't want to. I've gotta get it fixed soon. Like this week and will do the timing if I need to.

I had all the timing parts and front main seal done about 35k ago. Shop did it all said everything looked great when they had it apart.

Is there something else I need to check? I'm going to go take the fan/shroud out after lunch and pull the thermostat to be sure the housing isn't leaking.

I'll post pics and answer all questions you have, I just need someone with experience to advise me.

THANKS!

[bdmontero]

I would check the coolant hose running to the throttle body and the thermostat gasket on the housing. Also check the coolant hose running behind the plenum.

Sent from my SM-N900V using proboards

[montysport01]

The throttle body hoses were my first check. All look good. Haven't gotten to the thermostat yet. Hoses behind the plenum look okay but I haven't really looked at them yet. The V channel is full of coolant though, would the hoses behind the plenum cause that?

[bdmontero]

I'd double check the I mentioned. This temperature change can cause hoses to expand and contract

Sent from my SM-N900V using proboards

[montysport01]

Ok, checked all the rear hoses. No leaking there. Thermostat housing gasket looks to have been leaking but I don't know that it's enough to account for the amount of coolant I lost. Going to replace it and the throttle body gasket/O-ring.

Ok edit:

Checked and rechecked the hoses on the bottom of the throttle body. It wasn't till I went to put everything back together i noticed the one towards the firewall has a tear in it. No time tonight to take it off and really look at it but tomorrow after work I'll be pulling it off. It had to be leaking but like the thermostat housing, not sure it's enough of a leak to account for all the coolant it lost.

I'll keep you updated.

Thanks BD.

[dclambertt]

That's the hose that I had to replace recently when I pulled the plenum. It was nearly petrified from heat and broke in half, probably because previous work neglected to replace the heat resistant sleeve. I bought some heat resistant sheathing from OReilly's and wrapped the new hose when I installed it. Hope that's all it was on your's.

[bdmontero]

No worries! I suggest those two first because I spent several weeks tracking a mysterious coolant leak. Finally found it to be those two after a bit of wiggling of lines. ;D

Sent from my SM-N900V using proboards

[montysport01]

Replaced two hoses and put on real hose clamps. Truck is back together. New gaskets for thermostat housing and idle air control valve. Both appeared to be leaking. Ran the truck.

Still leakin . Not as much but now ive got nice white smoke and sweet smelling exhaust. Oil is clean and coolant is clean. Head gasket? Truck runs as smooth as it ever has. Idk what to check now.

I've read the head gaskets are rare when they go bad but im at a loss now.

[pinstryper]

White sweet exhaust? That's not good, find a torque wrench, its going to come in handy

[bdmontero]

Those reel clamps suck balls. The factory spring clamps are way better. If you have a head leak it would be pretty obvious. Is it smelling from the front of the engine or the back?

Sent from my SM-N900V using proboards

[montysport01]

Oct 9, 2015 18:05:13 GMT -5 bdmontero said:

Those reel clamps suck balls. The factory spring clamps are way better. If you have a head leak it would be pretty obvious. Is it smelling from the front of the engine or the back?

Sent from my SM-N900V using proboards

Obvious how? Worked on a lot of cars, never heads though. Doesn't smell from the front of the engine. Seems to be leaking from the rear. Smells like coolant from the rear. Rechecked all I could see this morning. Took the passenger side wheel off to get a better view and I can't "see" a leak but I can see it dripping off the transmission from the passenger side. Can't tell where it comes from.

I'm having it compression tested Monday.

Ugh.

[bdmontero]

You've got a hose leak still it looks like. I would check the hose on the front of the engine. There are several coolant hoses. Front Side and Rear of the engine as well. I would have swore my hoses were not leaking on top. It was spraying every time I hit the throttle and running down the valve cover and back on the engine.

Sent from my SM-N900V using proboards

[pinstryper]

Pressure test coolant system maybe ? Tools are available at autozone et al for a deposit

[montysport01]

Oct 10, 2015 22:54:05 GMT -5 pinstryper said:

Pressure test coolant system maybe ? Tools are available at autozone et al for a deposit

I've thought of that but I can't tell where it leaks now. A pressure test would only tell me what I already know. The system has a leak. I'm going to take it apart back down to the valve covers today and check the front lines off the thermostat housing.

Stephen.

[jkdv8]

What about that pipe/hose? that run along the top of the block.