'94 Intake Leak Question

[ssjones]

Workign on my daughters car, a '94 LeSabre. The car is primarily used when she is home from college in the summer. It has 129,000 miles on it and has been pretty much bullet-proof to this point. It's had an intake coolant leak for quite a while. The coolant leak was minor, but she's taking it to Pittsburgh this summer for use there, so I thought it better be fixed.

Sunday, I pulled and replaced the upper/lower gaskets and installed a new thermostat. Tonight, I started it to bleed the coolant and check for leaks. Well, there is a big leak at the front of the motor. The coolant is either coming from the short hose to the intake or a pipe just to the left. The pipe appeared to be emissions related, it was held in place by a tab with one fastener and had an o-ring on it (that worried me). I had a difficult time getting this pipe back into the intake. Of course, I can't ID the leak location with the alternator in place, so I pulled the injectors and top intake to get a better look. I took some pictures of this mystery pipe and hope someone can ID it and determine if it carries coolant.

[Airjer_]

If the nipple is metal it is probably not the problem. If it is plastic it could be the problem.

If you did not replace the o-ring on the pipe than I would shoot for that first.

[HotZ28]

Click Here for more details on the fitting & procedure for replacement.

[ssjones]

HotZ28, thanks for the link. Fortunately, it was not that plastic fitting. I found the unidentified hose is a heater hose and definitely was leaking as I had torn the o-ring. That short, shaped coolant hose to the plastic fitting also has a pinhole. Hopefully my local dealer has these things in stock (not holding my breath) and I can get it buttoned up and tested tomorrow night. Wish I'd have read about that plastic fitting first, I'd have replaced it with the intake off. I'll just be careful....

I'll post back, thanks for the tips guys.

[ssjones]

All done, whew that was a bit of a job.

My pipe fitting at the front is metal, left it alone.

My local dealer didn't have the short coolant hose, but one near my travel in Washington DC Friday did. ($15)

The o-ring sold to me by the local dealer wasn't the right one, but a multi-pack from Advance yielded the correct size. I removed the heater hose and pulled the pipe to get the right o-ring. Getting that pipe/o-ring back into the intake took some serious doing and a little dielectric grease. No leaks, will watch the coolant level and burp out air over the next few days. It did seem to bleed quickly.

I need to replace the serpentine belt before she takes it to college, but she should be good to go.

Thanks for the tips & support!

[HotZ28]

Good job and thanks for the feedback! I am sure your daughter will be proud of your effort to keep her rolling! Hopefully this thread will help someone in the future.