Coolant Leak, Top of Engine

[bigcoconut]

I'm currently chasing a coolant leak on my 92 truck (350 motor) and it is getting worse. The problem is the engine in dirty enough to mask the exact leak point. I do know this; I recently changed both upper and lower radiator hoses along with the thermostat. The leak is at the top of the motor, near the front so figure I messed up the thermostat housing. I replaced the housing gasket a second time thinking I might of screwed it up the first time, no change.

The only other thing I can figure, based on the apparent leak location, is the intake manifold? The coolant is pooling on top of the manifold at the front, passenger side, bolt location? It's to the point where I'm checking and toping off the overfloww bottle every other morning now.

[Frankp87]

Sounds like the intake to me. I just went through the same thing with my truck. I took the opportunity and changed the valve cover gaskets, intake and rebuilt the throttle body as well.

[wafrederick]

Intake gaskets and another thing to replace,the water fitting.The factory water fitting is made out of pot metal and will break real easy.The intake gasket kit comes with end gaskets and there is one thing to to with them: THROW THEM AWAY!The problem with them is they split and will cause an oil leak.Put a bead of RTV silicone instead in place of the end gaskets

[J-Ri]

Originally Posted by bigcoconut

The problem is the engine in dirty enough to mask the exact leak point.

Either the intake or the water fitting could be leaking, but if it were me, I would clean the engine off to be sure. I just use a self-spray carwash that has an "engine degreaser" setting. I don't squeeze the trigger, just let it trickle out, you don't want to rip anything off with that high pressure. If you have doubts about the water-tightness of your electrical stuff, spray it off somewhere it won't be a PITA to let it sit for a while to dry out before you take it to the carwash.