Hello,

Well as the title says I have two ongoing problems with my car. About 2 weeks ago the "service engine soon" light came on and when I scanned it it came up with a P1406 code. So I took the EGR valve off and cleaned it and replaced the gasket as well and the light went off. A couple of days ago the light came back on and its giving me the same code. Well to add to my problems the car has started to leak some coolant from the passenger side of the engine that pools at the K frame and drips slowly (see pics).
I checked the following for possible leaks and found none:
1. Tstat
2. Water pump
3. Hoses
4. Radiator
5. Drain valve

I will probably take it to a mechanic to have it checked but I would like to check here first so I can be better informed. The car is not running hot and the leak slows down as the car warms up. I only drove it twice before I noticed the leak. The coolant in the reservoir and under the coolant cap are at normal levels since I caught it early enough. Sorry for being long winded any help or info from more experienced members would be helpful.

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Well, the first thing everyone is going to say is to do a pressure test to check for the leak. I say since it goes away once the car warms up, it could be a leaky gasket somewhere. Check around the intake manifold or throttle body for starters

 

Well I got a chance to look at it yesterday and it looks like there is a lot of burnt coolant below the water pump area. I had the system flushed last month and shortly after that is when I noticed the leak. I think I'm going to replace the water pump and gaskets along with the bypass hose. Any tips or things that I should look out for before I start the work. Thanks in advance.

 

Yeah, make sure you have a new razor on hand. You'll want to scrape off the remnants of the old gasket to a smooth-as-glass finish. I learned that lesson the hard way with my TBI gasket

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to replace the bypass elbows and the water pump as well. I ordered an AC Delco pump and got he rest of the stuff from the auto parts store. I will make sure that I clean it up nicely prior to putting the new pump on. Thanks again DDRDiesel!

 

I would still do the pressure test. These things are **** to intake gaskets. Pressure testers can be borrowed from Autozone. FYI it is good practice to pressure test after a repair to make sure you got everything.

 

It's been a while since I posted but I finally got the coolant leak fixed. It was the stupid bypass elbows that gave out on me and caused the leak. I had the mechanic replace the water pump, heater hoses, thermostat and Dexcool as well. The heater hoses were a little pricey but needed to be replaced. I also had to change out the hatchback struts and latch over the weekend. I was really happy to drive it around all last week!

 

Better a hose than the head gasket. Glad you found it.
Enjoy the ride.

 

Replacing the parts like you did is a good way to prevent more problems down the road.

 

Thanks guys, I was really worried at first when the mechanic first looked at it he said possible leak from gaskets. Once he pressure tested it he was able to see that it was the bypass elbows. He showed me the elbows that went bad and they were cracked and broken at the ends and the heater hoses were really spongy. I like that the new heater hoses came with metal adapters instead of the plastic ones.