Oh the fun beings. I have a coolant leak on what looks to be draining from the driver's side towards the rear of the engine. Can anyone give some advice on possible known weak points in that area and or any fixes?

Going to take the plastics shields off later next week when I get a chance and try to get a better look at where the coolant is leaking from.

Below is a video link of the coolant dripping on the ground. Note the car is running. I added some distilled water and ran the engine to see how fast the coolant was coming out. Also the CTT is parked on a slight decline in the video.

Any thoughts? Fun times........

http://s1088.photobucket.com/user/bc...25bb6.mp4.html

 

Search coolant T here and on rennlist. Here is a thread I did on it. http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...t-crapola.html

 

Okay so it looks like I have to take apart the intake manifold as if I was replacing the plastic coolant hoses with the upgraded aluminum ones? Has anyone tried to replace the Coolant T's mentioned above by laying on top of the engine etc with the intake manifold in place?

 

Since your there and if the well known plastic pipes has not been change you can get the kit from one of the vendors here that has all what is needed all the way to the coolant. Be careful with the starter not to get coolant on it or that can be damage too.

 

No way. IT is really tight even with the manifold off. Mine had had the aluminum coolant pipes replaced so I changed the T with the coolant pipes still in. THere would be more room with the coolant pipes removed. I did some of the work from below. It helps to have skinny arms and a high pain threshold. I think it is negligence to replace the coolant pipes and not the Ts at the same time. Unfortunately that was rarely done.

 

Okay, so lets say I go through the whole process of taking off the intake manifold like I was going after the plastic coolant pipes on the top of the engine. Anyone have pictures of what the T pipes look like and where both the top and bottom ones are located with a diagram?

This is a picture from the rennlist link provided above:

 

I don't have a diagram. I drove the car up on some blocks for extra height, and raised it as high as possible. Took off the manifold and looked and felt around from top and underneath to figure out how it was all put together.

 

Okay, took off the shields and it looks like it is definitely draining from the back on the larger upper T connection. There is dried coolant around the T and the fresh coolant looks like it is draining from that area.

I also got a chance to lay on top of my engine and take a look. I'm thinking if I just take off the drivers side secondary air injection motor and supports I might be able to get access to the T connection? Do I have to certainly take the manifold off?

 

You can give it a try. I think that if the cat is removed it might be able to be replaced from underneath. Taking the manifold off is easy compared to removing and replacing the coolant Ts. Very tight and NEED a cable clamp tool.

 

Have you bought the kit yet? I recently purchased a kit only to find out mines have already been replaced on my 05 S you can buy mines..