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coolant loss on p/s. f/p or ????

robzombie4551

robzombie4551

robzombie4551
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land of the lost. TAKE YOUR COUNTRY BACK
After cleaning the rad/block about a week later LCL came on and I pulled over and saw coolant hitting the ground coming from the middle of block. H/G is fine. My ? is, is there a block heater there or only a freeze plug. Can I fix this w/o taking the manifold off. I can't see the leak from the top or bottom,to much crap in the way. I put bars leak silver in there to get home and it sealed it up in less than 1 min. I now need to fix it right and was wondering if this has happened to anyone else and what was involved in repairing it.
 
fixing it right might be an issue after the bars leak. take out the fender flap and look at it from that angle.
 
Check heater hoses and other coolant hoses in that area. Who knows what a blown hose was spraying on. Also could have popped the heater core and dripping out of AC drain. Otherwise inspect the block freeze plugs. There will be a dried coolant track from the leak.
 
It is definitely not a hose. It is coming from the block. I guess what I'm asking is has anyone done the freeze plug on the pass/side[about the middle of block] in the vehicle. If so can you tell me what has to be removed to inspect and replace. I'm hoping not to remove the manifold.
 
You can remove the inner wheel well from the passenger side, its about 10+ 13mm bolts (use an air ratchet for fast work).

Jack it up, remove the tire, take that out. Do that ahead of time so when its go-time its only a 10 minute ordeal once you break it free and know how.

With all this out of the way you will get as good a view as it gets. From there you can determine what else you may need to remove.
 
Sometimes, it shows coming from the engine block. In my 95, there is a coolant hose quick connect that is notorious of leaking happened twice with 4 years of owning the truck. It is way up there but it is not that obvious when it leaks unless it is hot but it usually evaporates before you even see it. It can drip everywhere that may be seen as coming from the engine block.

Something worth checking before tearing up the engine.
 
I'd look hard at the mickey mouse heater q/d on pass side of the cooling crossover, the pot metal in those rots, or the o-ring inside them becomes a square ring over time and leaks, can puddle in center of the block valley and then drain down the back side of the block via drain hole in center of valley at back of block, and wherever else it decides to migrate to.

Freeze or more correctly casting plugs not a common fail item for the 6.5, it happens, but really not a common event. Out of curiosity what type of coolant you running, and have you ever done a ph test on it.

Another possibility just came to me, steel plank off plates, left & right rear of heads, another external place for a leak, not common but could happen.
 
Thank you all!!!! doc matt jmjnet. I love your help, and each time I find the answer it's right in front of me. I found the leak and yes it was mickey mouse leaking. gasket was hard and chunks missing. I happened to have some orings that fit and now no leak. the bitch was that I couldn't see it from the top. It was running down the bottom of the hose and jumping ship midway down the block. I feel foolish but I'm sure it won't be the last time, I'm man enough to admit it. The pipe is missing a 1/4 halfway upon 1 side but not corroded, should I just eliminate that pos and put a bung in there with heater hose and be done with it or replace what I have. Thanks again for your support, rob Doc I'm running distilled water/redline/w/wetter. Just flushed all the bars crap out.
 
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So it was that heater hose quick disconnect? Im surprised you got it off without breaking it. Always good finding out you don't have a block problem.

I would just replace the q/d with a pipe thread to hose barb fitting and use heater hose. I always end up leaning on that dang aluminum hose and worry Im going to crush or crack it.

The block off plates on the back of the heads also have gaskets that if youre concerned you could pull off and check out. Or if you end up with a drip is a good place to look.
 
If that heater hose looks like powered metal it will fail. Known weak spot on GM incl gassers. It is an ordeal to get it out and replace it. That was a good decision to just replace the o ring.

You should run some additive in the water mix to stop corrosion and lube the water pump.
 
The fitting looked new, it was replaced by the prev. owner. It was the pipe going in that threw me. There was no corrosion but there was a 1/4" horse shoe shape piece missing from the end of pipe. I took the plastic spacer and origanal o ring out and double o ringed it. Took it for a ride and no leaks, hope it stays that way till I buy a bung and connect the two with hose and clamps.
 
I have replaced mine with 1/2"NPT to Barb. There is a version of the barb that supposed to be 5/8" hose but I got the one to 3/4" hose. So I just replaced the whole thing with 3/4" Coolant hose all the way to the tee.

By the way, the tee in the suburban can also leak. This is downstream from the crossover.
They are made of plastic.
 
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One ? about the fitting on the c/o. Does it matter that when replacing with a barb fitting it won't have the same restriction as the factory fitting. I notice the hole is not only small it has a metal x restriction cast in it as well. What would that be for? To slow down flow from H/C in winter to extract the most heat from the coolant?
 
Replaced the quick connect on my 96' with the NPT to 5/8 barb from napa and have since had no issues. After replacing the factory connectors a few times it gets old fast. I noticed no difference in cab heat-up times or anything relating to a difference in cooling flow. Just my .02
 
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