Perplexing coolant leak

CJim7

im running a 401 with an Edelbrock intake. Im getting coolant pooling up in the recesses where the first two manifold bolts are. First thought was a leaking hose, second though was bad seal on the thermo houseing. My worst case scenario is the possiblility there is coolant bubbeling up past the manifold bolts......the water jackets are right next to the first two bolts on either side
This is happening while driveing....i can not duplicate any leakage with the hood up, engine hot, and cranking on the throttle cable, as of yet.

My question is, have you ever seen an instance where water seeped up past the forward exhaust manifold bolts? I personally suspect the thermo houseing, but i dunno. Cant find any coolant residue around the houseing. The CJ is at the exhaust shop until Monday, so i cant really do much more investigateing until then, but this question still nags me. :-|

Sidenote: I dont appear to be burning any coolant.....at least from what my exhaust tells me. Knock on wood :roll:

youdidwhat

sounds like it is leaking past the bolts to me but could not be sure without pulling the two bolts and looking for water/fluid to show up. drag I know but without any noticable spray from the theo, :-| is there room for you to A) clean around the area B) twist up a couple of paper towles (kinda like you would if you were making ho-made q-tips) c) wrap the twistet towles around the heads of the bolts, ( zip tie or rubber band them in place, rubber band not being the first choice) D) drive for a short time (be careful not to get the paper towles on fire) E) check which one if either is wet. this may help decern if this a problem. just the $.02 of a crazy man, but it might help.

tufcj

I've had it happen due to a hair-line crack in the thermostat housing. Only leaked with the heat/pressure of driving. You might try driving a short distance with the radiator cap loose (no pressure), just to see. Might be worth trying one of those neat Bulltear nickel plated thermo housings, and it would look cool too. :mrgreen: (shameless plug). Bob tufcj

CJim7

Thanks for the ideas guys. At first i really suspected the thermo houseing. I had to work realy hard to get the old gasket material off, and in the end had to plane it slightly to remove irregularities on the surface. New Bulltear thermo houseing might not be a bad idea. What scares me, is the close proximity of the suspect water jacket to the intake port or the possibility of coolant heading for the crankcase. I sprayed the heck out of the valeypan with the copper RTV stuff in a can, and im confident in its sealing ability....after spending an entire afternoon trying to remove it from everything it hit in the garage :roll: . im keeping a close eye on my exhaust and checking my oil and coolant for a while. Not yet ready to pull the intake off and reseal until im sure. I spent my whole damn life (ok, the last 14 years) hopeing for a good running 401 to fall in my lap, i sure the hell dont want to blow it up quite yet.

CJim7

Huh...whadya know. damn thing quit leaking :-| =D> :? =D> :?

Mudrat

CJim7 wrote
Huh...whadya know. damn thing quit leaking :-| =D> :? =D> :?

So the rust formed a water barrier for ya :? Good deal :t:

Or did you find something other than a new gasket on the thermo housing??

CJim7

Probably the residue from the cooling system working like Stopleak :roll: My steering gearbox sealed itself up that way a while back also :t: