Mystery coolant leak **PICS** (formerly Hole Corroded in Head)
- Thread starter suprarx7nut
- Start date
if it were me and i was willing to further run with this problem, I would take a wire brush and clean all that crap off, maybe use some mild solvent/alcohol. Then I would take it for a spin and check for the leak to show it's face. then you don't have that crap everywhere and you'll know for sure. it migrated quite a bit from the leak, unless you leak spans a 4 inch distance. (no)
but that depends on what you find easier - hunting, or just fixing the headgasket anyway. it would tell you if its the gasket though, maybe. right now it's a mess everywhere so...who knows. sounds more like the gasket than a hole in the head though. used a mirror to check up underneath the #1 exaust port is yet? a mirror is your friend when looking for leaks.
but that depends on what you find easier - hunting, or just fixing the headgasket anyway. it would tell you if its the gasket though, maybe. right now it's a mess everywhere so...who knows. sounds more like the gasket than a hole in the head though. used a mirror to check up underneath the #1 exaust port is yet? a mirror is your friend when looking for leaks.
suprarx7nut;876313 said:
I think you found your problem... This time you might, maybe, wanna get the head milled. If its not trashed now.
cuel;876739 said:
Yup. I'm most definitely getting it machined and looked at by a pro when I pull it.
My problem is that I have school and work and won't have an opportunity to do the HG until spring break (March). So the plan as of now is to try to hold off until then when I can take my time and do it RIGHT the first time. I'll be driving easy and keeping a very, very close eye on it.
Figit: tomorrow I'll clean it up a little more and *maybe* go for a drive to see if I can find the exact location of the leak. Problem is though, that I have only noticed a loss of coolant after a HARD drive with multiple near-redline shifts and WOT for a while. I doubt I'll see a leak unless i push it that hard.
I will clean it and put it together and simply look at it every few days to check on the leak's status. Its too damn cold to do it tonight, but I'll try to tackle it tomorrow.
Thanks for all of your input and keep throwing any ideas out there for me. As of now I'm preparing for the full HG job.
CRE;876787 said:
Ya.... that'd be .... terrible. Lets hope for the best
... Though I will be preparing for the worst.
I'm guessing you have no choice, and have to drive it.
Just a quick point: I pulled the head off of an Escort that I had diagnosed in late oct. as having BHG. The cust. said they'd keep a close eye on it as well. They had it towed in Sat. for me to fix. Cyl.'s 2 and 3 on the head are both cracked between the valves. They said it just suddenly overheated Fri. night, and they pulled over as soon as possible.
My best advice is don't drive the car. Either that, or buy a head and get it prepped(milled, valve job, port and polish maybe...) while you're waiting. Then you can swap them out in a day, as long as the block isn't damaged.
Just a quick point: I pulled the head off of an Escort that I had diagnosed in late oct. as having BHG. The cust. said they'd keep a close eye on it as well. They had it towed in Sat. for me to fix. Cyl.'s 2 and 3 on the head are both cracked between the valves. They said it just suddenly overheated Fri. night, and they pulled over as soon as possible.
My best advice is don't drive the car. Either that, or buy a head and get it prepped(milled, valve job, port and polish maybe...) while you're waiting. Then you can swap them out in a day, as long as the block isn't damaged.
That's a great idea cuel, I will try to track down a decent head if possible just in case.
Though I've been driving it for a few months now with slow coolant loss with no ill effects, I'm worried that all of a sudden I'll blow the gasket fast and have an overheating engine on the highway 100 miles from home.
Though I've been driving it for a few months now with slow coolant loss with no ill effects, I'm worried that all of a sudden I'll blow the gasket fast and have an overheating engine on the highway 100 miles from home.
OH...redline. might not want to do that to it now... heh...
maybe just scraping off the residue on the surface - chances are (in my mind, i'm guessin' here) that the leak is in one spot, a small spot, given it only leaks under severe loads. Soo if you scrape rather evenly everywhere along the block/head seal and look for the spot where it goes deeper than just residue on the surface you've found you leak.
Like i said though i'm just guessing and when you scrape it off, you might get rid of all the residue and not leave any spots behind that could be suspect leaks...
that hard line is a coolant hose though, yes? just to save yourself an assload of trouble before you go further - get a small mirror and a flashlight and look at the hard line from the backside, maybe brush it with steel wool to make it clean - as long as that's advisable and won't cause corrosion. i don't think it will. look for that pinhole discussed earlier.
Uhh, did you say this was a metal headgasket? I forgot. it's a far cry but i've read about some people not removing some sort of funny rivet thing and causing....er...preventing a seal by holding a corner of the head up.
Anyway, on a different note - you checked your oil for coolant right? If you haven't you should. I wouldn't run the engine if it had signs of water in the OIL (fuck). hopefully its just isolated to the outside of the block if it is a BHG.
One more thing, totally pointless and possibly a figment of my slight tiredness, but - the title of this thread is REALLY funny right now :biglaugh:
maybe just scraping off the residue on the surface - chances are (in my mind, i'm guessin' here) that the leak is in one spot, a small spot, given it only leaks under severe loads. Soo if you scrape rather evenly everywhere along the block/head seal and look for the spot where it goes deeper than just residue on the surface you've found you leak.
Like i said though i'm just guessing and when you scrape it off, you might get rid of all the residue and not leave any spots behind that could be suspect leaks...
that hard line is a coolant hose though, yes? just to save yourself an assload of trouble before you go further - get a small mirror and a flashlight and look at the hard line from the backside, maybe brush it with steel wool to make it clean - as long as that's advisable and won't cause corrosion. i don't think it will. look for that pinhole discussed earlier.
Uhh, did you say this was a metal headgasket? I forgot. it's a far cry but i've read about some people not removing some sort of funny rivet thing and causing....er...preventing a seal by holding a corner of the head up.
Anyway, on a different note - you checked your oil for coolant right? If you haven't you should. I wouldn't run the engine if it had signs of water in the OIL (fuck). hopefully its just isolated to the outside of the block if it is a BHG.
One more thing, totally pointless and possibly a figment of my slight tiredness, but - the title of this thread is REALLY funny right now :biglaugh:
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clean it up, sell the bitch. someone elses problem then. bad...yes, cruel...yes, but people gotta do what people gotta do. top of the game gotta stay ahead.
spoolme;876920 said:
Um..... no.
If this is just a HG job, I could spend as little as 450 dollars to do it RIGHT and not have to worry about the HG again for years and years to come.
Even if I need a new head, its not the end of the world.
I don't make a habit of pawning my troubles off on others. I stand up and face them. I bought this car as a mechanical learning experience. I knew EXACTLY what I was getting into buying a high mileage 18 year old car. I WANT to learn to do this stuff. I'd like to do the work at my leisure, but if I need to make a time sacrifice, so be it.
I have a few toolboxes full of tools for a reason.
suprarx7nut;876939 said:
Well put.
It simply could be a pinhole in the coolant tube right by the head, or a leaking head gasket. I couldn't imagine selling the car for something that would be a relativity easy fix.
I amy have missed it, but have you checked the gasket where the water neck attaches to the block and the small rubber coolant hose from that hard line to the fitting on the water neck? Looks like there's more deposits in that area.
jdub;877119 said:
Yes I did, they seem to be ok. Were you looking at the cleaned up pics? The earlier ones show heavy deposits on the block and the hardline a few inches away from either of those fittings. After I wiped off the heavy deposits, the debris was concentrated forward of the original areas.
Yes I did...that's why I asked. I was thinking the coolant may have migrated aft of the leak to the block/hardline.
Liquids have a bad habit of doing so
Liquids have a bad habit of doing so
spoolme;876921 said:
aahahahah...whoops:cry:
well at least i know now that my posts are in fact being read.
awww man you messed with the title! now its not nearly as funny...:nono:
jdub;877321 said:Yes I did...that's why I asked. I was thinking the coolant may have migrated aft of the leak to the block/hardline.
Liquids have a bad habit of doing so
I see your point, but I have now looked at it for nearly 15 minutes with a handy mirror and can confidently say it's the head gasket. I'm nearly positive the water jackets between 1 & 2 have lost their seal and are letting coolant seep to the edge of the block, and apparently at times they squirt fluid through pinhole leaks.
-I cannot find any other likely source. The gasket line for the hardline fitting nearby is covered in oil and dirt with zero signs of any coolant seepage.
-The fitting holding the rubber hose onto the hardline shows similar characteristics with no coolant seepage.
I'm 95+% positive its the head gasket and this is where the leak is originating:
