It is more than likely leaking from the O ring of cross pipe under your intake manifold. It's a common problem.

 

Is there any way to verify this without taking the intake off? What all will I need in order to make the repair?

 

You can shine a light under you manifold runners. If the o-ring fails, it fills the v shape on top of the block. You'll see green if you look just right. Another way would be to stick something flexible under there and see if it comes out with antifreeze on it.

The repair involves removing the intake, popping the lines loose and installing new o-rings. Not a small task but pretty straight forward. Figure on 4-5 hours taking your time.

 

I think the earlier model engines require you to remove the intake. Someone can correct me if i'm wrong. But I replaced my o-rings without removing the intake.

IIRC, there are two heater pipes that make up the "cross over" pipe that runs under the intake.
One end connects to the water manifold with an o-ring on the pipe, and the other ends connect to one of the two rubber hoses by the firewall.

There are also two small hoses under the intake that may leak. One runs through the water manifold and the other through the throttle body.
To replace those hoses you NEED to remove the instake. But if its just the one o-ring at the heater pipe to water manifold then there is no need.

This picture is the best one I found of under the intake.

This is the o-ring on the end of the pipe that connects to the water manifold.

 

Thanks for the pictures Dae. They really help explain things. I pushed a rag up under that water inlet where the o-ring is and it came out dry so I am not sure that I am leaking from there. I guess I will have to pull the timing covers and check the water pump just to make sure. I am almost positive that it is not the water pump as the bottom of the crank is dry, but you never know. If it truly is not the water pump then I will pull the intake and check everything at that point.

 

Well I finally got around to this and I replaced the o-ring and the two metal gaskets. My o-ring was like hard plastic. My service manual does not describe this procedure at all and it calls for 12mm bolts to be tightened to 33-54 ft-lbs. That seemed a little excessive to me so I just went to 25 ft-lbs. I still have a leak somewhere or the trapped coolant at the bottom of the timing cover is just seeping out.

Does anyone know what the torque is supposed to be on the 4 bolts that hold the water manifold on?

 

Well I finally got around to this and I replaced the o-ring and the two metal gaskets. My o-ring was like hard plastic. My service manual does not describe this procedure at all and it calls for 12mm bolts to be tightened to 33-54 ft-lbs. That seemed a little excessive to me so I just went to 25 ft-lbs. I still have a leak somewhere or the trapped coolant at the bottom of the timing cover is just seeping out.

Does anyone know what the torque is supposed to be on the 4 bolts that hold the water manifold on?

WHOS MANUAL ARE YOU USING ,THE TORQUE ON THOSE 4 BOLTS IS A MAX OF 18 FT LB,S ON A NO 9 BOLT. MOST OF THE ATTACHMENT BOLT LIKE THAT ARE 12 -14 TOPS , IF YOU ARE USING CHILTONS AND HAYNES RIP OUT A COUPLE OF PAGES AND DRY YOUR HANDS , HALF OF THEIR SPECS ARE WRONG AND GET YOU IN TROUBLE

 

Thanks for that info jlemond. Should I back them off and retorque or just leave them as is? Do you think I destroyed the metal gaskets going that tight?

 

Thanks for that info jlemond. Should I back them off and retorque or just leave them as is? Do you think I destroyed the metal gaskets going that tight?

NO I WOULD LEAVE THEM UNLESS YOU REPLACE THE GASKETS THEY WILL LOOSE THEIR SEAL IF YOU BACK THEM OFF AND RETORQUE TO A LOWER SETTING , CHECK WITH HELMINC.COM FOR A FACTORY SHOP MANUAL

 

I think there is some confusion here. There are two steel heater pipes, one supply and one return, they both have an o-ring connection.

The supply pipe connects to the 'cross-over pipe' that connects the two heads, up high in front of the engine. The second photo shows this heater pipe with the cross-over removed. This is the easy one.

The return pipe connects into the block under the thermostat, down in the valley under the inlet manifold. This is the hard one. Fortunately the supply seem to leak more commonly than the return, perhaps because the pressure is higher.

You can see both these pipes in the top photo, grey coloured. The lower one disappears into the base of the thermostat. The chrome pipe you can see is going into the thermostat.

'99

 

I just had the mystery water leak on my 3.2 fixed the o-ring. didn't realize tht the other one was bad on the other end. Before the first fix the water was collecting underneath the intake once we replaced it, it no longer filled with water there but started appearing off the backside of the motor between the block and tranny. So before you do what I did (pulled tranny and transfer case to get to block to check freeze plugs only to find the leak at the top of the motor again but not filling where it previously was) ended up being the other o-ring that we didn't suspect to be bad. Just make sure you take a good good look in all the cracks and crannys on these motors its very easy to overlook some of the spots. Use a mirror if you have too, it helped me!! Good luck.
Brittney

 

Ok. So my leak is still there. I can see it dripping down at the alternator and onto the oil pan and the front axle. My guess at this point is the water pump. I am not sure why it would be leaking though as I replaced it around a year ago when I did the timing belt. Should I also replace the timing belt while I am in there? Should I just replace the gasket on the pump or just suck it up and buy a new one?

 

ok so I think I have found my leak, finally. I took the front of the motor apart to get at the timing belt and water pump. I can see that the weep hole for the pump is dry, but there is a drip on the bolt next to the weep hole. I took out my torque wrench and checked the tightness of the bolt and it was loose. Not super loose mind you, but it did turn a little before the wrench popped. I think my old torque wrench was going south and was giving me false readings. Unfortunately I used the old one when I changed the pump last year. I have a new one now so I checked all of the bolts and sure enough they were all a little loose. My question at this point is if tightening them will solve my problem, or is it too late and I need to pull the water pump and fit a new gasket.

 

There is one water pump bolt hole that breaks into the water jacket, so must be installed with thread locking compound to stop it leaking. Of the two bolts directly under the pump pulley, it is the one to the left, looking from the front. This bolt is coloured gold compared to all the others silver, if you put them back into the same holes. The correct torque is 18 lb ft.

'99

 

Well, this saga is finally over. I ended up pulling the water pump and replacing the gasket. The leak is no more.

 

Where can I find the replacement gaskets and other rings and apparently the long metal hose on mine needs replaced I just don't know where to find these parts can anyone help me I'm not even sure what you call these parts I have described them to every auto parts store around here and can't find what I need any help would be appreciated.