1997 RS 3.8 V6 145,000 miles

I have coolant leaking from right under the intake manifold in the front center of the engine behind where the tensioner is mounted. It isa flowing leak that only leaks when the engine is rev'ed, and then it dumps a large stream of coolant like a waterfall.

Any ideas???

Manifold gasket, or crack?
Head gasket or crack?
Or something simple HA HA!!!!

Thanks in advance
G

 

sounds like regardless of the source of the problem that intake manifold is going to have to come off. Id start by taking that guy out and looking him over. hopefully you can identify the problem. if not keep digging

 

also, i may be mistaken but i wanna say the lt1 had an issue where the EGR would overheat and cause cracks in the intake resulting in coolant leaks. is that real or did I dream that up somewhere?

 

*cough* its a 3.8 *cough* lol. Seriously though, there is a little plastic elbow down in that area thats been known to break. If you will give me a few moments Ill find my manuals if not take a pic of it on the car for you.

 

oh [&:]
Im not sure where I got lt1 from. its been a long day. carry on everyone, nothing to see here

 

Ok I had to walk all the way out to my garage pull out my cell phone and snap these for ya. Seems to me you owe me a beer. Its cool I will spot you the beer you own me and drink it now.

This shot show the elbow on a semi disassembledengine. That is the water pump area with the swirls on it. Note the tensioner Top left corner.




This picture of the same area a little farther back so you can see where it is. Note the tensioner.


Looks like you either have to pull the intake or the front cover to replace it.

 

I had to remove the alternator to remove the tensioner to remove the elbow. Beware though. The ends get fragile and break off in the holes they insert. Should the elbow not fit right, you will have to fish the plastic out.