Jump to content
SAU Community

Coolant leaking on top of intake manifold??

kevboost7

By kevboost7,
in Engines & Forced Induction

 Share

Recommended Posts

kevboost7 Community Regular

kevboost7

Posted
Posted (edited)

I just did a intake plenum job and replaced all the coolant lines. Now i am noticing that coolant is collecting on top of the intake manifold by the balance tube. I am puzzled by where this coolant could come from?? Does anyone know? 

It was hard to get good pictures of it but it looks as if it's coming from the balance tube. 

image.thumb.png.9d5f5bdf25f485fe735e433593638f63.png

image.thumb.png.271b4ae9f6b982315fc785ca4c7ec6ad.png

The red arrow is where its collecting

image.thumb.png.19f36452bf67d1f4c20300689fdd3cd5.png

Edited by kevboost7
Duncan Grand Master

Duncan

Posted
Posted

Pretty sure that coolant has come from the head coolant breather on the top right in your last pic, you can see the witness trail from it. 

But, there is coolant in the intake manifold after the throttles, so depending what you changed it could also be one of those gaskets.

kevboost7 Community Regular

kevboost7

Posted
  • Author
Posted
34 minutes ago, Duncan said:

Pretty sure that coolant has come from the head coolant breather on the top right in your last pic, you can see the witness trail from it. 

But, there is coolant in the intake manifold after the throttles, so depending what you changed it could also be one of those gaskets.

That last picture wasn't mine. I found it on google. 

When you are referring to the intake manifold, are you referring to the balance tube right on top of it?

kevboost7 Community Regular

kevboost7

Posted
  • Author
Posted
22 minutes ago, Duncan said:

Yes, the screw in the middle is the coolant bleed screw for the manifold, as it is higher than the radiator cap

image.png

wait, its not that... because that picture i posted wasn't a picture of it, i just found it on google. Is it possible the o-rings on the balance tube gone to crap? 

joshuaho96 Veteran

joshuaho96

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, kevboost7 said:

wait, its not that... because that picture i posted wasn't a picture of it, i just found it on google. Is it possible the o-rings on the balance tube gone to crap? 

The balance tube has coolant flowing through it. There are a bunch of o-rings that seal up the balance tube to the intake manifold. That can be one leak path. The other is the intake manifold up against the cylinder head. The throttles themselves don't get coolant flow to my knowledge but the intake manifold does. I recommend undoing the harness on the balance tube so you can get a better look at where the leak is coming from. Certainly a lot easier than getting eyes on the back of the intake manifold up against the firewall.

joshuaho96 Veteran

joshuaho96

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, GTSBoy said:

USB/WIFI inspection camera is only $30 on eBay. Just sayin'.

Those things are so low res as to be useless for spotting leaks unless it's super obvious. It really shouldn't be that hard to figure out the source of the leak. If the actual photo wasn't out of focus it would be pretty easy to see what's going on.

GTSBoy Grand Master

GTSBoy

Posted
Posted
30 minutes ago, joshuaho96 said:

Those things are so low res as to be useless for spotting leaks unless it's super obvious

Not true. I'm not talking about those shitty all-in-one borescope things. I'm talking the ones that connect to an app on your phone. Quite good resolution. I use one regularly for inspecting the insides of industrial equipment. They are cheap, cheerful and I wouldn't be without one.

  • Like 2
soviet_merlin Mentor

soviet_merlin

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Not true. I'm not talking about those shitty all-in-one borescope things. I'm talking the ones that connect to an app on your phone. Quite good resolution. I use one regularly for inspecting the insides of industrial equipment. They are cheap, cheerful and I wouldn't be without one.

Did you buy yours on ebay? Would you be able to link to the listing? Or at least the brand name they use for it. Thanks!

I had a quick look at finding just a non-shit camera at some point but going through the listings I found it hard to figure out whether I was looking at junk or something that's actually worth buying.

joshuaho96 Veteran

joshuaho96

Posted
Posted
17 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Not true. I'm not talking about those shitty all-in-one borescope things. I'm talking the ones that connect to an app on your phone. Quite good resolution. I use one regularly for inspecting the insides of industrial equipment. They are cheap, cheerful and I wouldn't be without one.

Would love to get a link, I keep using a chinesium harbor freight one and the image is horrifyingly blurry. It was useful for getting that paper towel out of my intake manifold but anything smaller than that and I had a hard time spotting anything.

GTSBoy Grand Master

GTSBoy

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, soviet_merlin said:

Did you buy yours on ebay? Would you be able to link to the listing? Or at least the brand name they use for it. Thanks!

I had a quick look at finding just a non-shit camera at some point but going through the listings I found it hard to figure out whether I was looking at junk or something that's actually worth buying.

Yes, eBay. Have had for a few years now, so the listings are not the same. I would suggest that most of these would be sufficiently close to the same thing that it wouldn't really matter.

https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=wifi+inspection+camera&_sacat=0

This one though, appears to be the same one I bought. I got one with a 2m cable, for compactness, because I carry it all around the world, but you can also get 1, 5 & 10m lengths. The longer lengths are not useful without taping it onto a stick if you need rigidity, and not steerable if you need to control it inside something, but still might be desireable for some. But 2m seems like the best option to me. I only paid ~$25 for the 2m back then. Looks like prices have, understandably, crept up since. I did "guess" quite well at $30 in my first post above though!

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/363941200352?hash=item54bc9601e0:g:zqAAAOSwDUpi5TcL&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAsInvOgSeC%2FpzavmgsvfJjNJTNrIf1ZyW7EYIwG76Nfg3x4%2BKp1rYUt%2B3pIBPmvkZjm4OmBvjomQngDzTt1odFGXBk5JMHPSKgfEbZnU7vgu19BjYqHS9PlctnhLwkn3XyePoBjvVT5I2BoAuocIUB7isNXWIhTuW2161XJ5uO%2Bz6KujjZUBq%2Bh4%2B2G7DOke3o13w56ZqkZFPpF071P0p6sGQbfRo4ghPHK06Lf7Sw2Zo|tkp%3ABk9SR4y0qOj9YA

 

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
soviet_merlin Mentor

soviet_merlin

Posted
Posted

Thanks @GTSBoy, much appreciated! Just put in an order for the one you mentioned. To me they all look the same. It can't be any worse than trying to point the phone camera at things.

Should be here within a week or so. Can report back then on what it's like @joshuaho96.

Murray_Calavera Mentor

Murray_Calavera

Posted
Posted

I use one of these, the picture quality is good provided there is light and you hold the camera steady.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/384797712333?chn=ps&_ul=AU&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1zz0Be6vuSQaRZ5rCDMTA6Q23&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-139619-5960-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=384797712333&targetid=&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9069120&poi=&campaignid=15984321586&mkgroupid=&rlsatarget=&abcId=9300814&merchantid=7364522&gclid=CjwKCAjwwL6aBhBlEiwADycBIK5EbdejstPcx13b5IOGikCmoij2n0jYOPk0drs-nJ9vXj9pswi9VhoCRPMQAvD_BwE

  • Thanks 1
kevboost7 Community Regular

kevboost7

Posted
  • Author
Posted
14 hours ago, joshuaho96 said:

The balance tube has coolant flowing through it. There are a bunch of o-rings that seal up the balance tube to the intake manifold. That can be one leak path. The other is the intake manifold up against the cylinder head. The throttles themselves don't get coolant flow to my knowledge but the intake manifold does. I recommend undoing the harness on the balance tube so you can get a better look at where the leak is coming from. Certainly a lot easier than getting eyes on the back of the intake manifold up against the firewall.

Let says that the o-rings went bad on the balance tube, would i be able to replace those without having to remove the intake plenum? 

Dear god i hope i dont have to do that job again. I just did it a week ago... 

Duncan Grand Master

Duncan

Posted
Posted

Yeah not fun...but back to an earlier question, exactly what did you have apart. It is highly unlikely something you didn't touch started leaking straight after you did something.

Did you just remove plenum, then throttles as a single unit, then intake manifold as a single unit? Or did you partially disassemble one or more of them?

Duncan Grand Master

Duncan

Posted
Posted

I should add, a radiator pressure test kit might be worthwhile if you are having trouble finding the leak. It pressurises the system from the radiator cap and  will make a leak location obvious

joshuaho96 Veteran

joshuaho96

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, kevboost7 said:

Let says that the o-rings went bad on the balance tube, would i be able to replace those without having to remove the intake plenum? 

Dear god i hope i dont have to do that job again. I just did it a week ago... 

You can try but I have a feeling the answer is maybe not. The hoses and pipes that hold it to the vacuum box under the plenum are a really tight fit.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • RP1421
      S15 Spec R

      By RP1421 · Posted

      As discussed in the previous post, the bushes in the 110 needed replacing. I took this opportunity to replace the castor bushes, the front lower control arm, lower the car and get the alignment dialled in with new tyres. I took it down to Alignment Motorsports on the GC to get this work done and also get more out of the Shockworks as I felt like I wasn't getting the full use out of them.  To cut a very long story short, it ended up being the case the passenger side castor arm wouldn't accept the brand new bush as the sleeve had worn badly enough to the point you could push the new bush in by hand and completely through. Trying a pair of TRD bushes didn't fix the issue either (I had originally gone with Hardrace bushes). We needed to urgently source another castor arm, and thankfully this was sourced and the guys at the shop worked on my car until 7pm on a Saturday to get everything done. The car rides a lot nicer now with the suspension dialled in properly. Lowered the car a little as well to suit the lower profile front tyres, and just bring the car down generally. Eternally thankful for the guys down at the shop to get the car sorted, we both pulled big favours from our contacts to get it done on the Saturday.  Also plugged in the new Stedi foglights into the S15, and even from a quick test in the garage I'm keen to see how they look out on the road. I had some concerns about the length of the LED body and whether it'd fit in the foglight housing but it's fine.  I've got a small window coming up next month where I'll likely get a little paint work done on the 110 to remove the rear wing, add a boot wing and roof wing, get the side skirt fixed up and colour match the little panel on the tail lights so that I can install some badges that I've kept in storage. I'm also tempted to put in a new pair of headlights on the 110.  Until then, here's some more pictures from Easter this year. 
    • joshuaho96
      R32 GTS (RB20DE) Injectors Replacement

      By joshuaho96 · Posted

      I would put a fuel pressure gauge between the filter and the fuel rail, see if it's maintaining good fuel pressure at idle going up to the point when it stalls. Do you see any strange behavior in commanded fuel leading up to the point when it stalls? You might have to start going through the service manual and doing a long list of sensor tests if it's not the fuel system for whatever reason.
    • perry_r33
      R34 GTR Vspec Garage Sale - All must go!

      By perry_r33 · Posted

      Pm sent 
    • Robot
      Skyline v36 350GT sedan hunting on idle

      By Robot · Posted

      Hi,  Just joined the forum so I could share my "fix" of this problem. Might be of use to someone. Had the same hunting at idle issue on my V36 with VQ35HR engine after swapping the engine because the original one got overheated.  While changing the engine I made the mistake of cleaning the throttle bodies and tried all the tricks i could find to do a throttle relearn with no luck. Gave in and took it to a shop and they couldn't sort it. Then took it to my local Nissan dealership and they couldn't get it to idle properly. They said I'd need to replace the throttle bodies and the ecu probably costing more than the car is worth. So I had the idea of replacing the carbon I cleaned out with a thin layer of super glue and it's back to normal idle now. Bit rough but saved the car from the wreckers 🤣
    • GabsReDeal
      R32 GTS (RB20DE) Injectors Replacement

      By GabsReDeal · Posted

      After my last update, I went ahead with cleaning and restoring the entire fuel system. This included removing the tank and cleaning it with the Beyond Balistics solution, power washing it multiple times, drying it thoroughly, rinsing with IPA, drying again with heat gun and compressed air. Also, cleaning out the lines, fuel rail, and replacing the fuel pump with an OEM-style one. During the cleaning process, I replaced several hoses - including the breather hose on the fuel tank, which turned out to be the cause of the earlier fuel leak. This is what the old fuel filter looked like: Fuel tank before cleaning: Dirty Fuel Tank.mp4   Fuel tank after cleaning (some staining remains): Clean Fuel Tank.mp4 Both the OEM 270cc and new DeatschWerks 550cc injectors were cleaned professionally by a shop. Before reassembling everything, I tested the fuel flow by running the pump output into a container at the fuel filter location - flow looked good. I then fitted the new fuel filter and reassembled the rest of the system. Fuel Flow Test.mp4 Test 1 - 550cc injectors Ran the new fuel pump with its supplied diagonal strainer (different from OEM’s flat strainer) and my 550cc injectors using the same resized-injector map I had successfully used before. At first, it idled roughly and stalled when I applied throttle. Checked the spark plugs and found that they were fouled with carbon (likely from the earlier overly rich running when the injectors were clogged). After cleaning the plugs, the car started fine. However, it would only idle for 30–60 seconds before stalling, and while driving it would feel like a “fuel cut” after a few seconds - though it wouldn’t fully stall. Test 2 – Strainer swap Suspecting the diagonal strainer might not be reaching the tank bottom, I swapped it for the original flat strainer and filled the tank with ~45L of fuel. The issue persisted exactly the same. Test 3 – OEM injectors To eliminate tuning variables, I reinstalled the OEM 270cc injectors and reverted to the original map. Cleaned the spark plugs again just in-case. The stalling and “fuel cut” still remained.   At this stage, I suspect an intermittent power or connection fault at the fuel pump hanger, caused during the cleaning process. This has led me to look into getting Frenchy’s fuel hanger and replacing the unit entirely. TL;DR: Cleaned and restored the fuel system (tank, lines, rail, pump). Tested 550cc injectors with the same resized-injector map as before, but the car stalls at idle and experiences what feels like “fuel cut” after a few seconds of driving. Swapped back to OEM injectors with original map to rule out tuning, but the issue persists. Now suspecting an intermittent power or connection fault at the fuel pump hanger, possibly cause by the cleaning process.  
×
×
  • Create New...