A few months ago my thermostat went out, and my car had a little heat up. I replaced the T stat and bleed all of the air out of the system eventually.
However, the overheat had caused a small leak to develop from under the intake manifold. I checked my install of the T stat and everything was in order, and i checked the upper radiator hose and am pretty sure the leak is not coming from it.

Being unable to find the source of the leak has been driving my crazy. Im thinking of pressure testing the system in hopes of finding it, but even from under the car i cannot determine where exactly it is coming from. So if i do find that the leak is coming from a smaller hose, under the intake manifold, i would probably have to remove the manifold to access it, right?

I should mention that I lose the radiator overflow reservoir's capacity over the course of about 100 miles


Also, does anyone know the pressure you should test the S2k's cooling system to?


thanks in advance

 

You don't happen to have a Hondata heat shield intake manifold gasket do you?

15psi should be good on the pressure.

 

No, and i rented a pressure tester from autozone, they didn't give me the pieces necessary to test the radiator itself, only the cap. Im really weary of having to remove the intake manifold, but I'm thinking it might be a seal or o ring somewhere in there. Im going to go by harbor freight tomorrow and buy a pressure tester from them and see where that gets me.

 

You did not mention checking your plugs. You have white smoke come out of your exhaust while moving out of first gear?

You stated you had a little heat up, if these cars loose pressure and have the slightest overheat you could have blown a head gasket. If you are loosing that much coolant in your overflow tank you you are burning it and or its mixing with your engine oil.

If oil is choclate milk, coco in color that is not good
.

I hope it all works out.

 

X2

that is a ridiculous amount of loss to be considered a small leak.

How bad was your overheat? I'd start with head gasket blown diagnoses before going down the "removing intake manifold" path.

Sent using free Tapatalk - Android FTW

 

Check the Water Outlet Cover, that is where my leak is. It is the small unit under the back of the Intake Manifold. It has the upper radiator hose, a small hose and a hose going to the water pump. It also has an o-ring inside where it bolts to the engine block. My leak is either with the water pump hose, or the o-ring is bad. It drips down onto the starter, then out under the car dripping from the area near the main seal on the engine/trans. If your leak is dripping there under the car I would check out the Water Outlet Cover.

 

i had a leak after replacing my t stat. . rented it from advance auto. i tried autozone kit. it didn't have what i need . problem fix

 

I've checked the oil and coolant, it isnt mixing, their is a drip coming from under the upper radiator hose on the block. Ill pull my plugs and see what they tell me.
Also, i have never noticed smoke. I have a test pipe, so the only thing i smell is gas.

The car overheated to full for maybe a few momments before i caught it and shut it down. I know that's not the most helpful discription, but that's all i remember
Yeah my leak is from somewhere in that area, either that or the block itself. I cant seem to find it from under or above the car. Were you able to find the leak with a pressure tester?

 

I was having a very similar situation recently.

Second time I drove the car this year it overheated on me (mid April). Then I was noticing a small puddle of coolant on my garage floor after I would park. It would pool in the center, under the motor. I couldn't for the life of me figure out where it was coming from.

Fast forward to earlier this week....I just got done getting a spare OEM intake manifold powdercoated, so I pulled my stock one off for the swap. I found clear signs that coolant was leaking where the manifold bolts up to the head (around the water port obviously).

Scott-