coolant leak

[rallenvt]

My '99 silhouette van has delevoped a coolant leak near the power steering unit. My mechanic thinks it could be the intake gasket or head gasket, but hasn;t had a chance to tear things apart. Does anyone have an opinion?

[diesel1962]

Hello.There is a by-pass hose near the power steering pump that may be leaking.You will have to remove the plastic shroud (that says 3400 sfi) to get a better look at it.Mine was leaking on my 97 Olds.I could not figure it out untill I removed the shroud,Then I discovered the problem.I hope it is not head,Or intake problems,As these engins were known to have problems with leaks.I have 175,000 on mine.No problems (YET!!) Have a good day.Let me know what you find out..Diesel 1962

[cdru]

It could be any or all of the above. You are just going to have to check and see. Intakes typically, but not always, leat towards the inside. Or at least that is where you will find the signs of it as it doesn't evaporate off instantly like it would on a hot exterior side of the engine. Check your oil cap for a sludgy substance about the consistancy of mayo.

Faulty head gaskets are also common on our engines, particularly around cylinder 1 (passenger side rear). This was where mine was leaking when I did mine earlier this spring.

As Diesel1962 said, it could be the bypass hose. If it's more on the side and not the top, I'd lean more towards a faulty water pump, either the bearing leaking through the weep hole or a bad gasket. Any mechanic worth anything would be able to diagnose that and probably wouldn't just say it's your intake gasket, but you never know unfortunately.

Without more information as to where things are showing up at, it's really hard to say for sure though.