99 S10 overheating/losing coolant from block

[90sabre]

Hello all,

Haven't posted in a while, I have a 99 S10 4.3 2wd. Last week on a 5-6 mile drive it overheated, and it turns out the coolant was somehow almost a gallon low! I topped it off and all was well for nearly a week. This weekend I was driving and suddenly could smell a strong coolant odor. The temp gauge began to spike and when i pulled over and popped the hood it was clear the coolant was finding its way out but not through the overflow or radiator. When it cooled down and I added water/coolant I could see the coolant coming from the block or near the block. Also, when I let it run for a few minutes i could see the fluid "spraying" out from what appears to be near the pass. side valve cover maybe near the intake manifold...The oil looks good, so I'm not sure it's the head gasket. Not sure where to go with this. I can't really afford to get it to a shop at the moment. Is this the end of the road for my S10?

Thanks,

Leo
99 S10 4.3

[aleekat]

You can get a "loan a tool" pressure tester from most autoparts stores. You just connect it either to rad cap or overflow cap, pump a little pressure and look for the leak. Takes all of a few minutes. Are your heater hoses in that vicinity? They normally route into the firewall.

[90sabre]

Originally Posted by aleekat

You can get a "loan a tool" pressure tester from most autoparts stores. You just connect it either to rad cap or overflow cap, pump a little pressure and look for the leak. Takes all of a few minutes. Are your heater hoses in that vicinity? They normally route into the firewall.

Thanks for the response. I will definitely try to do this. The leak does appear to be very close to the heater hoses...It almost looks like the coolant could have been coming from just below the hoses or where one of the hoses connects to the engine...although i can't see a problem with the hoses themselves.Sorry for the poor description!

[90sabre]

Update: To be more clear I can now see that the coolant is leaking out of or near the block almost as fast as it goes in(once it gets close to being full). I can't see where it is coming from but if I look underneath it is definitely pouring out from the passenger side.

[90sabre]

Update: After slowly pouring water into the radiator and watching the intake manifold area, I can see a tiny hole caused by corrosion where the water/coolant is escaping from. It's directly below the throttle linkage where the intake meets the valve cover.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by 90sabre

Update: After slowly pouring water into the radiator and watching the intake manifold area, I can see a tiny hole caused by corrosion where the water/coolant is escaping from. It's directly below the throttle linkage where the intake meets the valve cover.

I would re-torque the intake manifold and then put in 1/4 of a pre mixed bottle of bars stop leak . pour this solution into the upper radiator hose .. see if it stops or slows the leak down.. if still leaking some add another 1/4 of the bottle.. this should work if its a bad gasket ...

your vehicle should have dexcool if you used another type and did not use distilled water and replaced this coolant every 2 yrs the leaks will come..

[90sabre]

Originally Posted by j cAT

I would re-torque the intake manifold and then put in 1/4 of a pre mixed bottle of bars stop leak . pour this solution into the upper radiator hose .. see if it stops or slows the leak down.. if still leaking some add another 1/4 of the bottle.. this should work if its a bad gasket ...

your vehicle should have dexcool if you used another type and did not use distilled water and replaced this coolant every 2 yrs the leaks will come..

Thank you, that's definitely helpful...i had almost given up hope. Should I not be concerned with the corrosion on the intake manifold as seen in the pic? Also, I have not always used dexcool...i bought into the universal scam...

Also, not to be redundant but I should disconnect the upper hose and pour into the hose directly?

Thanks again!

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by 90sabre

Thank you, that's definitely helpful...i had almost given up hope. Should I not be concerned with the corrosion on the intake manifold as seen in the pic? Also, I have not always used dexcool...i bought into the universal scam...

Also, not to be redundant but I should disconnect the upper hose and pour into the hose directly?

Thanks again!

use the upper hose disconnect at the radiator. pour in the solution pre mixed,

drain the radiator first ..should work.,

[90sabre]

[quote=j cAT;7138871]use the upper hose disconnect at the radiator. pour in the solution pre mixed,

drain the radiator first ..should work.,[/QUOTE

When I tried this the other night I poured the bars (coppercolor) into the upper hose. It seemed to slow leak down but it is still coming out of the intake manifoldpretty quickly. So should I have mixed the bars with water? Do I Try the pellets? Thank you!

[j cAT]

[quote=90sabre;7138873]

Originally Posted by j cAT

use the upper hose disconnect at the radiator. pour in the solution pre mixed,

drain the radiator first ..should work.,[/QUOTE

When I tried this the other night I poured the bars (coppercolor) into the upper hose. It seemed to slow leak down but it is still coming out of the intake manifoldpretty quickly. So should I have mixed the bars with water? Do I Try the pellets? Thank you!

I stated to pre mix the bars stop leak. you drain the radiator mix some of the drained coolant with the 1/4 of the bottle of the bars stop leak ..then pour into the upper radiator hose , then continue to fill the system with the coolant you drained.

this should take a day or so to see if it helps or fixes the leak. if it slows down the repeat and use another 1/4 of the stop leak..

adding bars not pre mixed is NOT good.. you need to mix it and get it to break down so it will move easy though out the coolant system to reduce/stop the leakage.

dumping the bottle into the system them causes it to plug up stuff and takes longer to work....