I have a strong coolant smell on my '02 3800 -- the Chevrolet shop could not find any root cause but never the less the smell continues -- any ideas here?

Here's what the shop said: I notice the coolant level going lower over time, gradually, but no obvious drips.

TIA

 

Typically this is from The little plastic elbows behind the waterpump going into the intake manifold. My car did the same thing and you never found any coolant leaking but soon as I took the tensioner assembly off I could find where the coolant was going. It was evaporating off the engine block before becoming visible. Make sure to clean out the holes the elbows go into and put some bearing grease on the o-rings before reinstalling the elbows to help lube and seal. Worked great for my car.

Massey

 

That's one of the things his mechanic suggested too, but is there a channel the coolant can follow for it to accumulate on the right side exhaust manifold as they found?

 

Thanks for the tip -- sounds like a possibility -- have any photos of this by chance? I just power washed/degreased that whole engine I could access to make it easier to uncover the leak.

As for the channel, there is a channel above the valve covers...

 

This photo shows the leak prone black elbow (forward coolant pipe), that your mechanic would be referring to. My question was, is it possible for leaking coolant from there to find it's way (along a channel) to come to rest upon the exhaust manifold? If not, you would have 2 separate leaks.

 

Thanks -- looks like GM calls that the "Heater Water Inlet Pipe", wow they really tucked away that little piece and hid it! #31 in the attached image

I think prior to the engine cleaning they could not clearly tell what they were looking at, but I will now keep a closer eye on this to find the leak(s).

If coolant came from that channel, my guess is it spilled over the valve cover from the bolt hole area onto the exhaust...

 

THe pic that 69 posted is about as good as anyone is gonna get for you. You can access both the plastic elbows by removing the belt tensioner assembly (yes it has the heater hoses attached to it). New elbows are available at just about any part store in the "help" isle and they come in a pack with both elbows for about $5.

Massey

 

They make nifty aftermarket elbows made of aluminum too.

 

Both? So there are two? So I assume in your case it was just the o-rings, not a cracked elbow(s)?

 

Mine was the actual elbow cracked at the o-ring! The leak I had was hidden until I removed the tensioner and after that I could tell right away what was happening. When I removed the plastic elbows part of them remained in the manifold and I had to get a pick to remove it. Make sure all the pieces are out before installing the new ones. I also found that they sealed best with some bearing grease to lube the O-rings. A dry install in my experience has only sealed about 40% of the time where greasing the rings seals 99% of the time.

Yes there are 2 elbows and they only go in one way so you cant mess it up.

Massey