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coolant leak help


TrickTT

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Got a coolant leak at the back of the engine somewhere. It appears to be leaking onto the top of the bellhousing. Cant see anything coming from the heater hoses so the only other coolant hoses I can see are these (see photo). Haven't had time to get under the car yet so does anyone know if it is easy/possible to change these(particularly the hard pipe) with the engine in the car, or if there is anything else that might leak onto the top of the bellhousing.

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Check the hose just above your arrows, the large one exiting from the head. Mine failed at Japfest spraying forlife over the bellhousing and onto the exhaust.

It was only a pinhole type failure and only showed up when really pushing the engine.

That clip that secures it is a b*stard to release, needed some wierd offset long nose pliers to get the critter.

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  • 6 years later...

Ok sorry to bump this old thread, but i seem to be having a similar problem as the OP. I have a slight coolant leak from the (red arrowed) hardpipe, its dripping from where the green arrow is. This picture is from someone elses thread as I couldn't get a decent picture of my leak due to a turbo and associated ancillaries being in the way. I'm probably loosing around a litre of coolant every 100-150 miles, only when engine is hot, doesn't seem to be losing any when engine is cooled/not running.

 

Leak.JPG

 

 

I am wondering if anybody has had this problem and knows how to rectify it. I think its leaking where the hard pipe enters the block at the back. Is it a straight forward fix? Or do I have to remove the turbo, exhaust housing (like in the pic) to remove the hard pipe? The leak as it stands isn't too bad but I don't want to be driving and have a catastrophic coolant loss causing a BHG.

 

Any relevant input appreciated, cheers.

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Ok sorry to bump this old thread, but i seem to be having a similar problem as the OP. I have a slight coolant leak from the (red arrowed) hardpipe, its dripping from where the green arrow is. This picture is from someone elses thread as I couldn't get a decent picture of my leak due to a turbo and associated ancillaries being in the way. I'm probably loosing around a litre of coolant every 100-150 miles, only when engine is hot, doesn't seem to be losing any when engine is cooled/not running.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]146497[/ATTACH]

 

 

I am wondering if anybody has had this problem and knows how to rectify it. I think its leaking where the hard pipe enters the block at the back. Is it a straight forward fix? Or do I have to remove the turbo, exhaust housing (like in the pic) to remove the hard pipe? The leak as it stands isn't too bad but I don't want to be driving and have a catastrophic coolant loss causing a BHG.

 

Any relevant input appreciated, cheers.

 

 

Can anyone help? Unfortunately I'm not very near any of the authorised/recommended traders (I'm base in sheffield) for them to have a look otherwise I would drive it to one of them and they could help sort the issue. Ideally i would like to know if this job is do-able by myself, or a complete ball-ache and therefore best taking to a garage.

 

Cheers all.

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I had an issue with a leaky core plug on the rear housing of the water pump. See if you can check all the core plugs on the rear of the engine. I remember possibly Chris W. or someone else putting up a diagram of the core plug locations.

 

If you do need a local-ish garage, I can highly reccomend Matt at http://www.slidemotorsport.co.uk/

Edited by Iky (see edit history)
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Have you checked the water pipe from the back of the head to the heater?

 

Will check it tomorrow after work and update this thread, too dark now. Is that hard pipe circled in red, the pipe that goes into one side of the heater matrix or does it feed the coolant to the block/head? Just need to know in case it needs removing, as it would be easier if it did go to the heater matrix. I did notice old crusty deposits on the hardpipe join to the rubber hose going into the passenger firewall, but no leaks. With the engine running it is leaking a drop every couple of seconds from where the red arrow is. No visible leaks when looking at the coolant pipes from above ie. rad feed/return and those pipes going into the passenger firewall.

 

I'm thinking its that hardpipe, or possible something at the back of the block above it with a bad join/pinhole leak as the leaking coolant is only visible on the hard pipe arrowed in red.

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I had an issue with a leaky core plug on the rear housing of the water pump. See if you can check all the core plugs on the rear of the engine. I remember possibly Chris W. or someone else putting up a diagram of the core plug locations.

 

If you do need a local-ish garage, I can highly reccomend Matt at http://www.slidemotorsport.co.uk/

 

Would that kind of leak on the rear of the water pump actually travel to the back of the block and drip down the pipe I've arrowed in red? I had a good look from the underside (with a bright torch) of the car over the weekend (4 corners on axle stands), and couldn't see any coolant residue on the pump or on components below where it could have dripped onto. Only leaking onto the rear of the front subframe assembly and tracked it to that hard pipe in picture. Couldn't pinpoint it though as it goes between the back of the block and firewall and cannot get a good view of it from the bay or underside.

 

To expand on this I had a leaking rad a month or so ago and swapped it out for a new aftermarket alloy, with new 1.1 bar rad cap. Was still loosing coolant from expansion tank. Traced it finally to a tiny pinhole fissure on a small segment of rubber hose above the alternator. Swapped that out for new hose. All seemed good for a week not loosing coolant, but now this.

 

Seems like the cooling system is systematically finding the next weakest link to exploit the next leak from. Hopefully once this issue has been solved it will be the end of it. Quick question, As I don't track the car or race the engine for long periods at high revs. Would it be better to fit an 0.9 bar rad cap to protect the system and possibly extend heater matrix life. Oh the matrix works fine really hot air, no wet footwell in passenger side, stat works fine opens after 5-6 mins on idle from cold. Changed 3 years ago along with a new water pump.

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The feed pipe to the matrix is slap bang in the middle of the head, right at the back. That hard pipe, iirc, is a gallery that circles the block and provides feeds on the other side of the block for anti icing of the throttle body, iacv and such.

 

Ok if thats correct would the there be any harm in blocking off that hard pipe temporarily to see if that fixes the coolant leak, could do with finding out how that attches to the block, as if it has a rubber O ring seal or something that may have perished over time/engine vibration and be causing the leaking issues. Any idea what is necessary to gain acces to that pipe. Is it pretty much an exhaust manifold turbos off situation based on that pic?

 

Thanks for your replies been very helpful.

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My engine is in a stand, but Im not at home otherwise I could get some pics. This is the pipe from the EPC so you can get an idea of what its like. The smaller pipes are air pipes for he sequential turbo system

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]146595[/ATTACH]

 

If I get time tomorrow after work I may detach some pipework/ancillaries to get a better look at the source of the leak. Otherwise I will have a proper look at it this weekend. If you get a chance I would be grateful the next time you are at home if you can get a pic of where that hard pipe goes and how its attached to the block, I'm 90% sure its something to do with that pipe 'as I think I'm right' that it doesn't see pressure until the stat opens, that is when I've noticed the coolant starts leaking.

 

Thanks again.

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If you are in South Yorks you are only an hour away from Ash at Garage 786 in Leicester.

 

Thanks will bear him in mind if I can't easily remedy the problem myself, don't really want to chance a longish journey until I know the nature and severity of the leak. As if i have a severe coolant loss and don't turn the engine off in time I could blow the head gasket/warp the head. Even if I do turn it off in time 'heat soak' with little or no coolant could still cause expensive damage.

 

Could get it trailered I suppose, but I'm a stubborn **** and quite handy with tools (as long as I have the necessary information to carry out repairs) and would like the sense of pride and one-up-manship from sorting this b*gger out. A sort of two fingers to the awe and mystery of the 2jz cooling system!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok bit of an update, as its only a tiny leak I thought I would change all the OEM hose clamps dealing with the coolant lines for good old jubilee clips. Did this last saturday and topped up the coolant and refilled the expansion bottle to the max mark (after a full bleed of the system). Taken her for a drive, got her up to temp. Drove hard for 10 mins and went home, left idling and put some paper under the engine where it was leaking. After idling for 10 mins didn't notice and pink/red marks on the paper.

 

Hopefully this is the issue resolved. Will monitor coolant level (before and after) every time I drive for the next month or so just to make sure. Fingers crossed :)

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  • 2 months later...

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