Fluid is leaking! Daddy is freaking!

Hello to all!

I am here to update you on my ongoing "running Hot" issue. I have been riding my motorcycle for the last few weeks, so have been letting my Camaro rest a bit.

Went to go to work this morning and checked the coolant level, found it low, added more and drove to work. No porblems.

Went to go to lunch only to find a puddle of coolant under my car. When I have used the car lately, it has been raining, so I must not have noticed the leak before.

Here is the issue, the puddle (perhaps a pint or two) was under the rear of the engine, toward where the tranny meets the engine. What the heck is coolant doing there?!? (and why is it leaking!)

I have a 1994 Camaro, 3.4 L V-6, 150K miles, 5-speed manual transmission.

Please help me resolve this coolant issue, once and for all!

Thanks for responding,

Jack

sounds like its running down from up top freeze plugs or intake possiblity do u have a pressure tester if not let it run & build its own pressure then check should be some residual left behind that u can see

Sounds more and more like an intake leak.
it's not much at first but if you don't get it fixed in time you'll have tons of fun replacing gaskets.

It is a common problem for the 3.1L and 3.4L GM engines because they have intake manifold gaskets that don't seal properly.

The gaskets are cheap but the labor for replacing them and having an anti-freeze flush and refill could get you to around $800 bucks.

sounds like its running down from up top freeze plugs or intake possiblity do u have a pressure tester if not let it run & build its own pressure then check should be some residual left behind that u can see

:1:

on the theory of this, but, don't overlookd the intake as the post states, but also, check the heater hoses.

Thanks to all who replied!

I looked through my Haynes repair manual for the procedure for replacing the Intake Manifold gasket. Looks like there are several steps to it (seems like a great time to replace the fuel filter), but it may be something I can handle. Could anyone post a step by step, with pitfalls, clearly marked, to help me? I am inexperienced with this work and am looking to learn from other's know how.

Also, once I get everything apart, do I prep the manifold's mating surfaces in anyway, or just pop another gasket on there and re-assemble? Are there any "tricks" of the trade here, or is it straight forward bolt turning?

Thanks to all!

I appreciate your help, and am glad that this forum is here!

Jack

have u verified the leak is the intake or just goin on are say so?

I am going with wrightz28's suggestion, that person has never let me down and know his stuff!

I went to the auto parts store to buy the flouresant (sp?) dye for a radiator. the guy at the parts store said he's never heard of the stuff. I check on the price for the gasket ($26) and have decided to go on what advice I have been given.

I am always willing to listen to other points of view, though!

What are your thoughts?

Thanks,

Jack

hehe. he also said to check heater hoses. my heater hoses blew, leaked a shitload everywhere.. but it held enough pressure for some odd reason.. just enough for me to not notice till i had steam billowing out of my engine.


bring up the temp, check where the leak is coming from.. and just try see if you can tell where the leak is on the engine, itll be a little hard.. (and hot..)

You are correct Ikeyballz, he did.

Here is what throws me away from the the heater core. When I noticed the leak, the position of the puddle was close to under the drivers seat.

But, I didn't get this far through life by passing up good advice!

So I , in the spirit of following your AND wrightz28's advice, will follow the procedure that was described. To be honest, I am a little worried about the intake gasket repair job, so I will diagnose the problem correctly, before I start guessing.

Thank you very much for your reply!

Jack

hehe. he also said to check heater hoses. my heater hoses blew, leaked a shitload everywhere.. but it held enough pressure for some odd reason.. just enough for me to not notice till i had steam billowing out of my engine.

All too true, once the pressure is off the system it will accumulate in great quantity, and potentionally a bit away from the source.

Ok...It looks like the coolant is coming from behind the intake plenum over the tranny hump and dripping from there. The area around the heater hoses is dry, and the leak seems to be on the drivers side of the area mentioned.

I drove about ten miles today and lost about a half gallon of coolant.

Can we go over the intake gasket replacement procedure, including ANY relevant
or useful tips. I have not taken any major components of the engine itself, sure the odd alternator, water pump and power steering pump, but not anything like this. So ANY and ALL "tricks of the trade" would be appreciated, and put to good use. I have never worked with the fuel system, but it seems straight forward. What I am most concerned about is getting everything off the block (limited space in the bay) and putting everything back together again.

Thanks to all who've replied!

Jack

ok the intake is pretty straight forward.the brackets, alt etc(anything in the way)got to go. drain system remove valve covers(usually valve covers interfere with intake manifold)you may want to take pictures for installation because of wiring to sensors,electrical etc. remove bolts for intake & remove.scrape gaskets very good.make sure intake gets torqued to proper specs & in proper sequence.flush cooling sys.& change oil & filter thats the basics pretty straight forward. good luck & let us know

ps by now u should have a service manual. read intake procedure a few times get familiar it

What kind of time do you think I should devote to this job? I have a fair set of tools and am pretty industrious.

My Camaro is my daily driver, so this has to wait for me to enough time to do it. Will a weekend cover it or should I figure on renting a car for a while.

Thanks to all who make this forum GREAT!

Jack

if you keep at it, a weekend should cover it

if your mech inclined then 6-8 hrs should be enough
good luck & let us no how its going

I am down to the fuel rail, how do the fuel injectors come out so I dont damage them? Any other tips?

Thanks

im sure you are done removing injectors. but if not just remove mount bolts & with a little pressure they should come off

they just pull out... they can be kinda in there some times