I have a slow coolant leak that has been pestering me for a few months. I add about a quart a month...the sweet smell of burning coolant is evident.
I've eliminated the following:
PHH
examined hoses on top, no leak found
examined hoses underneath, no leak found
oil looks water free
coolant looks oil free
could find no leak on the radiator
Did you check both side of the head to block gap where the HG sets. I recently did a prepurchase inspection for some one and no bubble but had two external leaks that will create the customer a problem later on. I see this often but not as often as the compression leaks into the coolant. later robbie
No reason to take them off in the first place. You can look from under neath the exhaust and the intake manifold pertty well if you lay on the ground and look up with a flash light. If needed a mirror works well to see where you can not shine a light. later robbie
looks normal on both sides...no dripping or remnants of dripping. I can't see behind the back of the engine though, that is cyl #6 right? The one that sees the most hg failures? how do I get a look at that sucker? wd
the area that fails on the #6 cylinder is at the rear on the exhaust side of the engine usually. You might remove the hoist braket from the head that is back there and go at it with a mirror and flashlight to get a good look at it. If the gasket is out of shape you would see a bulge in it protruding out at the block/head seam.
Still looking for the leak, it is so slow that it burns off before getting to the bottom of the engine.
I did a flush with a prestone T over the summer, turned the hose all the way on with rad cap and block plug open. You think the water pressure finally did my HG in? When hot, what psi do cooling systems run at?
If coolant is seeping from the HG, what damage can this cause? Other than the obvious...running dry and overheating on the side of the road.
If you're not finding any leaks at the HG, then take a look at the water pump. There's a weep hole on the housing behind the pulley, and if the seals are leaking, you'll get a drip out of that hole. The drip becomes more pronounced when actually driving, if it's present. Look also at the belts up front and see if there's any sign of "slung" dried coolant (white/pink/green). When my pump went, you could easily see where the coolant came out and was slung around by the belts as it driped on them.
The cooling systems normally run 13 to 20, your is probably 13 to 16 range. The smell is coming from outside right, I agree the water pump sounds like a good spot to look at. you may want to check all of the clamps to make sure all are tight, just in case, i had a similar situation and it was just enough to make the smell but not leave any traces. Good luck
Still looking for the leak, it is so slow that it burns off before getting to the bottom of the engine.
I did a flush with a prestone T over the summer, turned the hose all the way on with rad cap and block plug open. You think the water pressure finally did my HG in? When hot, what psi do cooling systems run at?
If coolant is seeping from the HG, what damage can this cause? Other than the obvious...running dry and overheating on the side of the road.
If the leak burns off before getting to the bottom of the engine (assuming external leak) that is actually another helpful hint as to where to look - start looking around heat sources such as exhaust manifold, then look towards the EGR back of block area, then look at the water pump. Wherever it is, if it is drying that fast, it is just a matter of time til you see a vivid pinkish chalky residue dripping out of something. Dont neglect to look to all the little coolant bypass lines around the TB; you might have to look almost along the injectors to see the residue. Also dont neglect to look at the rear heater lines that run pretty close to the exhaust in some areas, it could be weeping out of those and then getting wind enough to hit the pipes slowly smoking off. HTH.
I add about a quart a month...the sweet smell of burning coolant is evident. 
is there any reason to put these back on?
