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I pulled out my K&N for cleaning today and I noticed some coolant leak around the JRSC area. I am using Prestone extended life coolant (orange stuffs) and this coolant forms an orange power when dried thus I can pin-point the exact leaking area. The leak is located on the passenger side of the JSRC where it attaches to the engine. I guess it is a small leak at this point. Anyone experienced this problem? Is it the gasket between the engine and JRSC blown? Do I have to pull the charger to fix this leak? http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/frown.gif
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It is probably the manifold gasket. How well did you clean it before putting the new gasket on during the install?
It could be from a casting flaw, since there is a coolant passage through the manifold on the passenger side. My manifold has this, but the leak was obviously from the top of where the manifold connects to the head.
Greg
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Here are some pics of the leaking vicinity. The orange stuffs are where the leaks are.
[This message has been edited by randomwalk101 (edited January 01, 2001).]
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Sure looks like the intake manifold gasket is leaking. I wonder if any coolant is going into the manifold? I'd bet someone took a shortcut during the installation and didn't install a new gasket. I spent 3 hours scraping my gasket off.
As far as I know, the blower has to be removed to access the bottom nuts of the manifold. This might take several hours to fix.
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Randomwalk101...
Unfortunately, you will have to remove the blower and the manifold in order to fix this problem. Once you get to the gasket, make sure that you do not see any cracks/imperfections in the manifold casting. If all looks good, carefully scrape all old gasket material off of the mating surface on the head. If you accidentally scratch this area deeply, you will need to use some "Honda Bond" to fill the gaps before installing a new intake gasket.
BTW, what year is your car ??? Did you know that the coolant that you have installed in your motor is NOT designed for your cooling system ??? You may want to consider going back to the regular old GREEN stuff.
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'93 Civic Si H/B with B18C1, JRSC @ 8psi
Best 1320: 12.68 at 110 mph
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JRCivic,
I drove the car around today and the leak is not major..It's a very slow, small leak. I am wondering if I drive it like this, will the problem get worse over time. Also, if I tighten that nut up a little bit will help out any? I took the car into the dealer and got a run around...they asked me to bring it back next Monday...will see...
Wrong coolant? Wow, that stuffs is a lot more expensive than the green stuffs. Looks like I'm f*cked in more ways than one...arghhh.
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JRCivic,
What's the problem with using the "orange stuff"?
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I just bought that orange stuff too but haven't poured it in. It has that GM "dexcool" additive, right?
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According to Prestone their stuff is 100% Dexcool compatible. see:
http://www.prestone.com/products/14.htm
I don't know if it's exactly the same formulation, but the concept's the same. Supposedly longer water pump life, less sediment, corrosion inhibiters last longer, blah, blah...
Anyhow, as far as I know, the only problem with using it is that the cooling system must be completely free of "green stuff" before adding Dexcool (or Prestone). Otherwise the Dexcool is considered "contaminated" and one should then use the flushing interval recommended for "green stuff".
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Rafe,
Thanks for your help/advices (and others pple here as well) on ITR shocks/springs...The ITR ones are cheap..and it rocks http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
That orange anti-freeze is actually (or seems to have) more sediment than the regular green stuffs. After it leaked out and dried up, you'll see the orange power residue left. With the green stuffs, you hardly see any...
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Sediment in a closed cooling system is different from residue left when the coolant dries outside of the cooling system. The Dexcool (and Prestone I think) is supposed to leave little or no sediment in a closed cooling system compared to "green" antifreeze.
As for the ITR shocks and springs, they do rock! The price is great and they're factory Honda parts to boot. http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/cool.gif
[This message has been edited by rjaffey (edited January 03, 2001).]
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You guys are right about not wanting to mix the two fluids, but you can actually get away with a little more mixture than "completely free". I think its about 18-20% of a mix that is considered unusable. Of course I don't know why you'd mix that much other than an emergency when that's all you had....
JRCivic, if you have any information on why the dexcool wouldn't perform as well I'm sure we'd all be interested. Its my understanding that as long as your coolant is designed for aluminum radiators you're a-okay.
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Get doesn't get any more STUPID than this...I am a KNUCKLE head. *bonk*
I made an appointment with the dealer Friday to have them look at the car for that coolant leak...so I decided to clean up the coolant residue on the intake manifold and drive the car around to see if any new coolant will come out. So after hosing it down/scrubbing the dried coolant residues off, I looked at the nut holding the charger to the manifold and it looked like there a small gap. So I reached there with my bare hand and gave it a twist. DUH!!!!! The damn bolt was finger loose. http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/eek.gif Apparently, the nut has backed out. No wonder there is a leak!!
I tightened down the nut and no more leak!!! http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Wow, am I relief!!! http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
[This message has been edited by randomwalk101 (edited January 04, 2001).]
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I don't know if this is BS or not...
I was about to put some in my car a month or so ago. A friend of mine from a local radiator shop happened to be standing close by... he stopped me from pouring it !!! He said that it is designed for GM's new line of vehicles because they use a special alloy in their radiators now. Apparently, it transfers heat differently than the regular green stuff. He claims that it is not nearly as effective as the green stuff in an aluminum radiator... although there are certainly better properties with the new formulation, we may not be able to use it yet.
As for the contamination part: Rafe is absolutely correct. You must completely flush your radiator first before adding the new stuff.
I will educate myself more on this subject tomorrow.
BTW - does the back panel say this stuff is SAFE/Recommended for ALL radiators or are there warnings suggesting certain vehicles/radiator types ???
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'93 Civic Si H/B with B18C1, JRSC @ 8psi
Best 1320: 12.68 at 110 mph
