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Coolant Leak From Under Intake Manifold.

Rolls

By Rolls,
in Engines & Forced Induction

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Rolls Grand Master

Rolls

Posted
Posted

My car is currently getting some tuning work done on it and they noticed a mild coolant leak from under the intake manifold, they pressure tested it and it came up fine but it certainly is leaking. I'm guessing the issue is because we reused the intake gasket from the old motor because it was only ~5000kms old.

Taking the intake manifold off is a gigantic pain in the ass, I'd say putting an engine in is less work so I want to know is if I use some kind of sealant around the edges where it is leaking am I going to have any success, if so what kind of sealant should I try?

I figure it can't exactly make it worse, buy me some time until I can remove it myself.

StevenCJR31 Veteran

StevenCJR31

Posted
Posted

yeah there certainly isnt a lot of room under there,you might have to bite the bullet and take the manifold off as i cant see any kind of sealant staying in place as you would need the surface to be really clean for it too adhere

DVS JEZ Grand Master

DVS JEZ

Posted
Posted

Rolls urs is easy. I just bolted mine back together after a leaking coolant hose. heres what under an rb26 plenum looks like 2539a276.jpg

Heres after replacing hoses, cleaning and new tomei gaskets.

a42281bf.jpg

And back together 229b3fec.jpg

Good thread hijack yeah?

And back ontopic, yes use a slight smear of sealant if there is coolant passing through

sky017 Proficient

sky017

Posted
Posted

i had the same problem when i fitted my after market plenum , hadnt driven it for a few months , and when i finally got it on the road i started to notice a leak . thought normal gasket goo would of done the trick on the first initial install . had enough and endured the pain in the ass of removing it , i simply just loosened mine off and got some ultra strong sealant (red type silicon based) from supercheap , applied it with a little brush to both sides of the gasket and let her sit over night , no more leak . but im guessing your running the standard manifold?

id get a camera phone and take a few photos underneath like i did to determine exactly where , to be sure before you go into removing the manifold.

good luck

Rolls Grand Master

Rolls

Posted
  • Author
Posted

It is an R34 NEO rb25det with an R33 S2 intake bolted to it, so I'm guessing the rb26 intake is quite different DVS JEZ?

Are there any coolant lines running through the intake manifold on an R33? Or is it air only? If so where would the leak be from?

The leak is at the front of the engine, sorry I can't be more specific than that.

Rolls Grand Master

Rolls

Posted
  • Author
Posted

KK so it could be from the gasket then.

My mate offered to change it this week for free! win. Just got a 15% payrise at work with 7 months backpay so I think I will give him a decent lump of cash for it, more of a prick than removing/installin an engine imo.

DVS JEZ Grand Master

DVS JEZ

Posted
Posted

KK so it could be from the gasket then.

My mate offered to change it this week for free! win. Just got a 15% payrise at work with 7 months backpay so I think I will give him a decent lump of cash for it, more of a prick than removing/installin an engine imo.

Lump of cash sounds fun :)

The Dan Grand Master

The Dan

Posted
Posted

It is an R34 NEO rb25det with an R33 S2 intake bolted to it, so I'm guessing the rb26 intake is quite different DVS JEZ?

Are there any coolant lines running through the intake manifold on an R33? Or is it air only? If so where would the leak be from?

The leak is at the front of the engine, sorry I can't be more specific than that.

Neo and R33 manifolds are supposed to be different.

Rolls Grand Master

Rolls

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Neo and R33 manifolds are supposed to be different.

You just have to replace a stud at the front and then it bolts on, or could be super dodgy and put a nut on the end of it.

I bolted R33 everything onto a Neo motor, kept the neo coils + CAS and everything else bolted on no issues.

Edited by Rolls
The Dan Grand Master

The Dan

Posted
Posted

oh, I was fairly sure we sized the gaskets up and they were off by a little bit more than that.

Also R.I.P.S had to make a custom plenum for a guy because they were different and he had to send them his Neo manifold.

I will have to investigate now.

Rolls Grand Master

Rolls

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

If you could find out more that would be fantastic. I was told by a few workshops the manifolds were basically a bolt on job though.

If the gaskets were off surely I would be having massive problems also?

Edited by Rolls

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