robcon27

I just bought a 04 GT 5 speed, its all stock except flows and 2 cats removed and has 102,000. I noticed yesterday while driving with the heat on the smell of coolant, so I pulled over and my car looked like it was on fire from all the steam, I looked under the hood and couldnt find any obvious signs of a hose leaking or hole in the radiator. IThe coolant was dripping from the back of the motor, I got a flash light looked under the intake and the valley was full of coolant. I cant pin point the leak. Has anyone had issues like this, iv heard lots of horror stories about the stock plastic intakes, does this intake have coolant running through it? Could I be looking at a head gasket? Iv only had the a little over a week and am not happy, so any help you guys can give would be sweet!

sycho

was the temp gauge showing hot, or the coolant in the resivoir boiling or missing? was it running ok?

robcon27

It seems to be running fine, the temp hasnt gone past half, but as more coolant drains it will start to run hot, im trying too keep it as full as possible

SSFenris

ok... this is not a sure-fire fix, but there IS a hard coolant line that runs through the valley from just behind the timing cover back to the back of the motor. It is O-ring'ed at both ends, and if that line was installed wrong, or the O-rings have failed, this could very well cause your problem. Getting the intake manifold off our cars is not as easy as say, a Fox, but it's not THAT difficult. My suggestion would be to pull the manifold off (be aware that the injectors will have to come out of the manifold) or get yourself an inspection mirror, and see if that might not be what's causing the coolant to run all over your motor. If this is the case, it's gonna take more of your time than money, as the fix (a new O-ring'ed hardline) is relatively cheap, as the line is actually PVC, not a true 'hard' line. LMK if you need some more assistance with this.

robcon27

Thanks, like I said im new to the modulars and im kinda clueless, ill check that an see if thats the problem. As for the intake, does it have water jackets in it, or seal around any water jackets?

POISND U

Cracked intake. Replace it. Common. Very common.

ponycrazy2002

102,000 miles for an 04? woowwww how much did u pay for it??

robcon27

Ok, I ran some stop leak through it last night and it has stopped leaking for now, so if I pull the intake, will the crack be right there an obvious or will I need to have it inspected? Where do these intakes actually crack? I dont wana dump alot of money into an intake if I dont have to and want to be sure thats the issue and not somthing else..........thanks guys, this is helping me alot

SSFenris

if the intake is indeed cracked, and it's spewing as much coolant as you say it is, the crack will be VERY obvious. Granted, if Stop-Leak fixed the problem, even temporarily, I'd say run with it. Don't beat on it before you figure out what's wrong, but you're probably OK to drive it for a while. What you CAN do (I've never done it) is to take the mani off, and pressurize it with air somehow (once again, I've never done it, but that's what an 'inspection' is going to do). Air will find leaks that the water hasn't, and if your intake starts whistling, it's no good.

jvog

well he has an 04.. and most of the cracked intakes occur on the older 4.6s (2001 and earlier). His should have the aluminum crossover.