Burtonsnow157

I have a 2003 GT (w/PI heads and intake manifold). Just today I decided to detail the engine bay and noticed that it was filthy. While doing the detailing of the engine bay i also noticed that i was low on coolant. At this point in obviously deduced this greenish dirty later on my motor was in fact from coolant spraying around the bay. My car sits on my parents' driveway and basically doesn't get driven more than once a week, and there is never any coolant on the driveway.

Here is a photo of my motor that i took today - please note that I took this photo without the intention of using it for diagnosis so its not particularly close up.
http://s13.postimg.org/dhlhciqhj/979...15d1dc302f.jpg

You'll notice that both heads are covered in dirt. The car went for a drive today and the engine bay was dry (presumably because after the reservoir drained past a certain point, it stopped spraying a couple weeks ago). The intake tube had a lot of dried coolant on it, more so than the right side of the engine.

Does this seem more like a cracked intake manifold? head gasket on its way out? The exhaust doesnt smell funny, it isnt white, and the oil is clear after a fresh change. The motor runs and idles fine and has not overheated and no check engine codes or lights are on.

WhiteFoxGT

bad intake manifold wouldnt surprise me. Best way to tell is to clean it all up and pressure test it

fastbackford351

Mine cracked around the coolant nipple on the rear of the manifold while my daughter was driving. She wound up roasting the engine but I wound up with an InTech so that worked out ok.

dawson1112

you can guess all you want, but until you physically see where its coming from you cant fix it.

My guess would be back where the 2 hose clamps are on the heater core hoses. But I would actually just pressurize the system and find where its coming from before tearing into it.

Burtonsnow157

On what i believe to be the heater hose, I recently cut it in half and added a T fitting into it for flushing the radiator (within the last 2 years). Judging by the vicinity to the high buildup of coolant, I'd say this is a good first place to look regardless of the t fitting. I will report back when I am on vacation and staying over there.

Drastang

most likely heater hose mine broke 6 months ago, luckily it was at the plastic connection and some self sealing rubber tape fixed it for me.

Camster

Clamps may have loosened on the t connection,but most likely a cracked heater hose neck on the manifold.

Burtonsnow157

Just a quick update on the situation. Today i rented a pressure tester and after bringing it up to 16psi, it was slowly dropping which confirmed what i already knew. There was fresh wet coolant right above my heater hoses after a 30 minute drive so i found the general locale of the leak.

I tore into the intake manifold and found that both gaskets were broken at the crossover, and on top of that, the bottom side of the manifold was all broken and corroded contributing to leaking as well.

I bought a new pi intake, new heater supply and return hoses, new gaskets, and a new thermostat. I think that should do the trick.

Soldier GT

Good deal man glad you got it taken care of!

WhiteFoxGT

post #2 ftw lol

glad you got it ironed out.. make sure you pull all the plugs when the intake is finally off and spin the motor over a few times (disable fuel pump and turn key for 10 seconds or so) to make sure no coolant or anything is left in the combustion chamber. Also clean around spark plug holes and intake/head mating surfaces with compressed air before removing old intake to keep dirt and crap from falling down in there