Coolant leak pooling on top of manifold?

[intofx]

Drove my car a bit today and discovered a pool of coolant in the valley of the manifold. I cleaned it all up and ran the car in the garage for a few minutes until it was warmed up again and the puddle returned. I suspected it was coming from up front but it appears to be happening at the rear of the engine as all connections up front were as dry as a bone. Its a EDELBROCK RPM AIR COMP manifold and it and the 383 engine only have 1500 or so miles on them so I'd be shocked/horrified if it was a crack. Could it be coming from around one of the bolts? Any suggestions?

TIA,
Matt

[oestek]

I'd check all the intake bolts, the rear gasket / seal, any pipe plugs or hose connections, and see what you've got. Cracks are pretty rare, little seepy leaks are common. Good luck with it.

[John Wright]

Were the heads or deck milled?

edit* nevermind, I read the post too quickly...I thought you said it was pooling coolant in the lifter valley.


I agree with Kevin...check the bolts, may have to add some Indian head sealant on the threads.

[wmhjr]

My bet would be you've got coolant chasing one of the intake bolts up from the head. It can be frustrating but not terrible.

[intofx]

Any tips for locating leak? Also, if I find the leak, can I just remove that bolt and reseal or will I have to loosen all of them and torque in sequence?

Thanks,
Matt

[wmhjr]

I had this issue on one bolt on my Pontiac. I removed the intake, made sure the intake gaskets and water galleries were properly sealed. Problem solved.

[intofx]

I just checked the manifold bolts and a few of them are barely finger tight! Looks like I found my problem! WTF? You think I can just tighten everything up or is this going to be above my pay grade?

[Scott Parkhurst]

LOL! Snug 'em all with a dab of blue LocTite and you should be fine...Go around and snug them a couple times, and make a point to check them all in another month or so. This is fairly common.

[intofx]

How far down the threads should I put the LocTite?

THANKS!!!!

Matt

[Scott Parkhurst]

Put it on the bottom 2 or 3 threads. It'll coat itself as its tightened.

[protour73]

I used to use RTV, but now I use Loctite's "RIGHT STUFF" on the bottom 6 threads or so. This will prevent the coolant from whicking UP the threads and out the shank of the manifold bolts. I never have a leak using this method.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/08/25224-1.jpg

[John Wright]

I just checked the manifold bolts and a few of them are barely finger tight!

Sometimes they loosen after a few heat cycles...check your header bolts too if you haven't already.

[intofx]

Thanks for the help guys!!!

Matt