Heat exchanger leak finally fixed-coolant leak

[virtualfriday]

I had a frequent coolant smell that progressed into small losses of coolant over months that eventually turned into drips of coolant on the floor. I finally found someone to do the work and this is what they found. I am guessing a lot more of these are going to show up on the 5.7 as the miles and years add up.
Coolant leak

 

[sdnative]

Is that the inside of the heat exchanger? Is there supposed to be coolant there?

I need to do mine pretty soon. Where exactly does this leak happen? Is it through the black form-a-gasket material? Or somewhere else? I haven't figured out exactly where the leak typically originates yet.

How many hours labor did the shop charge you if you don't mind me asking?

 

[04UZJ100]

Isn’t this a bad case of the “valley” coolant leak?

Is it really cool enough there during normal operation that it wouldn’t boil and evaporate??

 

[bloc]

I had a frequent coolant smell that progressed into small losses of coolant over months that eventually turned into drips of coolant on the floor. I finally found someone to do the work and this is what they found. I am guessing a lot more of these are going to show up on the 5.7 as the miles and years add up.
Coolant leak

View attachment 2227213

Did the shop break your fan shroud or did that happen otherwise?

 

[bloc]

This picture is with the lid removed. If you look close you can see the open bolt holes along the sides.

 

[virtualfriday]

Heat exchanger cover is off in the picture, the pool of red coolant in the center is where it is supposed to be. Technician
thought the sealant bead had simply failed as the fasteners were still torqued to spec. Yes the technician also broke my fan shroud. Data point my truck is a 2009 currently with 175k miles and I started smelling coolant occasionally about 20k miles ago.

 

[supdizzle]

yeah, this happened to mine with 198K. Started smelling coolant about a month ago. I think it had been slowly leaking over a longer period of time, then a lot more recently creating the coolant smell. Took a good portion of the day to do the work. Replaced my intake gaskets at the same time.

 

[OregonLC]

My OCD self can't restrain from cautioning the risk that is being taken doing work with those intakes exposed... put a rag in there as soon as the mani comes off.

Bugs me almost as much as poor trigger discipline.

 

[619TOY]

My OCD self can't restrain from cautioning the risk that is being taken doing work with those intakes exposed... put a rag in there as soon as the mani comes off.

Bugs me almost as much as poor trigger discipline.

Anybody seen my 10mm socket???

 

[wet sprocket]

Thanks for posting this. I’ve had a coolant smell for about 15k miles (currently at 156k on my 2010) and I cannot find a sign of it anywhere. Now I at least have a major suspect!