Puddles of coolant on top of motor? *PIC INSIDE*

[atvkid4eva]

well guys i just bought this 88' ranger 2.9l v6 and it starts and runs great, no coolant in the oil, but it does leak coolant onto the top of the motor? cracked heads maybe? water pump leak? im not sure hope you guys will know..the pic shows where the coolant is leaking it is in all the little pockets on top of the motor. let me know what you guys think.

 

[GeorgiaBoy 87]

I cant tell from the picture where your thermostat is located, but maybe its leaking from there. On my truck the water pump is on the front of the motor. so I wouldn't think it would be that.

 

[atvkid4eva]

Thermostat is located on the very front of the motor..

 

[AllanD]

Water pump or T-stat? Simply... No.

Cracked head? to leak there that'd be a Zebra-Unicorn hybred.

It would most likely be the Lower intake gasket or a cracked lower intake.

Not much room for it to be anything else.

AD

 

[Boggin]

is that where the injectors are?

 

[IMenriched]

Unless the upper radiator hose or heater hose is peeing in there. appears to the drivers side in the photo, yes??

other than that, yeah agreed with Allen

 

[atvkid4eva]

yeah it is the drivers side...i dont think there is any radiator or heater hoses right there that could have broken...what should i do to be sure?

 

[atvkid4eva]

are there any coolant lines that run in that area i could check for leaks before i do lower intake gaskets? also its not only on the right side like in the pics it seems to leak around the intake manifolf and then run down the back of the motor...maybe ill just let it go and make sure it has coolant before it is driven? lol

 

[IMenriched]

I've seen a heater hose delaminate and get a bubble in between layers and sprout a pin hole after it has been up to temp. It could shoot a stream 6-12" away.

the heater core hoses are on the left side, in this case, so it would be a real trick pool shot to get it launched over to the right side of the intake, given air turbulance from the fan and going down the road

odds are better, like Allen said, that it's a faulty lower intake gasket.

 

[atvkid4eva]

i guess i will have to examine it better tomarrow..if it is the intake gaskets how hard of a job is it to replace them? do i need to remove the valve covers to get to any of the bolts?

 

[IMenriched]

i guess i will have to examine it better tomarrow..if it is the intake gaskets how hard of a job is it to replace them? do i need to remove the valve covers to get to any of the bolts?

to get at any of the bolts...no....but the lip of the valve covers most-likey will be enough to provide lack of clearance, so that the lower intake could not be removed.

Usually the valve covers are leaking a bit anyway so it is a good time to get that cured as well. this may not be the case for you. In short it will be easier just to remove them, so your not fighting with them coming apart or going back together.

if the heads have been resurfaced in the past, there might be a thicker intake gasket for the lower intake??? to help take up extra space....when doing the dry fit, note how much space/gap there is. then note the thickness of the gasket. You might have to get the bottom of the lower intake milled so it can sit lower.

 

[atvkid4eva]

i dont know if i even want to mess with removing the intake manifold...seems like a big job that prolly wont go in my favor with broken bolts and such...since the truck is only going to be driven offroad would i be alright if i just made sure the coolent levels were full before driving it? or maybe theres someone on the site who has done a manifold gasket before that would like to stop by and give me a hand lol

 

[atvkid4eva]

alright well i made some progress tonight...pulled the intake manifold off i had to remove the two valve covers since the valve cover bolts bolted into the manifold..my question is if the gasket were at fault how would the fluid reach and sit on top of the manifold? the only way it would move would be down it appears if the gasket were bad not up? im thinking that my manifold could be cracked allowing fluid to flow onto the top of the manifold right by the injectors...i am going to clean the manifold throughly and check for any cracks how else could i determine if it is cracked? the valves and all look great no coolant anywhere inside the motor so that is a plus..anymore input?

 

[mjonesjr]

I had the same problem on my BII. It was a lose clamp on one of the heater hoses on the water pump. The fan was spraying it back onto the intake manifold.

 

[atvkid4eva]

well mine dosent have any splatter from the coolant being blown around...mine seems to just seem onto the top of the manifold...and i didnt see any leaking hoses i looked really good.