Coolant Leak

[polishboi]

Hey guys i have a R32 Gts-t with just the standard rb20 ive recently discovered a coolant leak how ever i cant pin point it yet. It seems to be coming around the intake manifold area i found the leak as the coolant was dripping down my steering rack on the drivers side. I was just wondering if any one had this problem! i managed to get a more accurate area from where its leaking it seems to drip down the top of the block and past where the oil filter is i was just wondering if any one had a simular problem and where about the leak was coming from. Any ideas from which coolant line or heater hose its coming from?

Edited September 16, 2007 by polishboi

[infamous_t]

Check your water pump.

EDIT: what? leaks from the head? head gasket ftl.

[polishboi]

correct me if im wrong but the water pumps on the rb20s are at the front left hand side of the engine its certainly not comnig from there is seems to be in the mid of the intake manifold is there many heater hoses or coolant lines that run underneath there?

[polishboi]

sorry not the top of the head the top of the block i can see dowwn the side it comes down the side of the block around where the oil filter is was just wondering where abouts it could be coming from its doing my head in

[polishboi]

Just had another look at it, certainly not coming from the water pump! it seems to be leaking directly down from where the throttle body is. Any ideas people is there like a coolant rail that runs across from the front to the back of the engine?

[Grunter]

Best way is to take it to a mechanic and get it

preasure tested.Once preasure is applied it

will be easy to spot the coolant flowing out

[Ant97GTR]

I don't have this experience myself but I have it on good authority that the rb20/rb26 in the 32 has a heap of coolant hoses underneath the plenum....only way to get to them is to take the plenum off.

Might be albe to get a better idea if you take it to a mechanic and raise it on a hoist....

[tacker]

there is a whole gaggle of hoses under the plentum and if one is starting to leak then the others wont be far behind.

[Craved]

there is also coolant going into and from the throttle body - easy to check from the top

[NISZILA]

I had the same problem. Was one of the hoses near the plenum. Was pretty easy to fix tho... once I found the hole

[Psymon]

If you're going to take it somewhere to get it done then you should probably get the lot done, like tacker said the rest wont be far behind. I learnt that the hard way.

A company called samco do kits that replace both radiator hoses and all heater hoses with silicone for some skylines. Don't know if they do them for the RB20 though. Might be worth looking into.

[Cubes]

I replaced every single little hose on mine when I swapped in the rb30. It cost me quite a few hundred just in hoses.

And then......... 2 god damn leaked!!! 2 hose clamps; still seeped out when the motor cooled over night. The ones that leaked where around the back of the head and the little one that runs from the plenum to the thermostat housing.

Old man mentioned something about the buses/trucks having a similar issue due to the rubber type used; the fix was to dab a little silicon around the lip of the hose and slide it on. Since done that and all perfect.

I used genuine nissan hoses for all the little ones so they should have been good quality rubber.

I have since found hose clamps that have some sort of spring preload on them to prevent cold leaks. Apparently quite a common thing.

[polishboi]

hey guys thanks for all the help yeh i found the leak its just under neath the intake plenum! scheduled to take the plenum off next weekend :-)! Im a apprentice mechanic btw so ill be doing the work my self i was just asking around to see if people knew the most common problem to save me some work! BUt as every one said its one of the coolant lines under the plenum so itll be coming off! Thanks for the help guys!

[Cubes]

You can reuse the inlet manifold gasket as its metal but will most likely require a plenum to inlet manifold gasket as they are paper and rip.

Luckily the gasket is cheap ~$10 AUD.