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Olds minivan coolant leak
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g huns
Anonymous Poster
Mar 29, 2009, 7:52 AM
Post #1 of 6
(3106 views)
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Olds minivan coolant leak
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I have a 98 Olds minivan that has developed a significant coolant leak. It's a trusty 3.4 of course. I replaced the motor at 115000 miles due to an intake gasket leak. The motor I installed is a 03 from a Buick Rendezvous. It had 10000 miles at that time. I heard they redesigned the gasket in 04, so before installing the motor I replaced that set of gaskets. The van now has 190000 miles and has been trouble free, until Friday. I noticed a large puddle under it is on the passenger side and starts just behind the tire. I was praying for it to be a water pump, but the pump is bone dry all around it. The coolant on the floor under it is clean, not oil in it. The oil has no coolant in it. The valley under the intake has no fluid in it. I'm afraid it could be the intake gasket on the end at the backside but can't see anywhere near there. Or the front cover gasket? Neither option excites me much. I'm hoping someone has a better, simpler idea. I have attached some pictures for your viewing pleasure.
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Loren Champlain Sr
Veteran
/ Moderator
Mar 29, 2009, 11:19 AM
Post #2 of 6
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Re: Olds minivan coolant leak
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Viewing pleasure? LOL. From the pics, my guess would be either intake or timing cover gasket leakage. A pressure test after getting the areas clean and dry should tell you for sure.
Loren
SW Washington
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g huns
Anonymous Poster
Mar 31, 2009, 1:33 PM
Post #3 of 6
(3096 views)
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Re: Olds minivan coolant leak
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I took off everything, but the front cover off the belt end of the motor. Here's what I see...
The real sucky part is that because of the front cover you can't really say if that trickle is coming from the head or the bottom back corner of the intake.
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Loren Champlain Sr
Veteran
/ Moderator
Mar 31, 2009, 3:12 PM
Post #4 of 6
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Re: Olds minivan coolant leak
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Man, you posted some awesome pics. Well done! Unfortunately, I can't tell where it's coming from, either. If you put the system under pressure at this point, should be fairly obvious, though.
Loren
SW Washington
(This post was edited by Loren Champlain Sr on Apr 1, 2009, 5:17 PM)
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Mar 31, 2009, 6:18 PM
Post #5 of 6
(3085 views)
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Re: Olds minivan coolant leak
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Ditto! If you really clean off the area, dust it if needed with powder (talcom, baby, baking soda) if needed when under pressure test it should show exactly where the source is,
T
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g huns
Anonymous Poster
Apr 4, 2009, 7:00 PM
Post #6 of 6
(3063 views)
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Re: Olds minivan coolant leak
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Not the intake gasket...
What a POS! Not even 75K on this motor. I've been a loyal GM customer since I was 16 but I'm done. How do people who can't fix these themselves afford them? I know just the intake replacement would cost $800. What do they get to replace head gaskets? About $1200 would be my guess. I told my wife that the next thing to go bad on it, she'll be looking for a new van cause I'm dragging this one out into the middle of a field and blowing it up. Then I'll borrow the neighbors excavator, smash it flat, dig a hole and bury it.
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