The Stupid Engine Questions Thread

[Racer X]

Weird question and hopefully I can get a quick reply for this. My truck leaks coolant and it drips down and exits in front of the driver side front tire. It only does this when I decide to drive this truck to work and I cannot get it to recreate this leak to further investigate it. My work is really close to my apartment. Maybe a 5-10 minute drive. Of course my work doesn’t tolerate leaks so I can’t get a good view of the leak. I’ve drove it back 400 miles when I bought it and no issues whatsoever. I continually drive it around town and 45 minute plus trips with no leak whatsoever. Any idea where the leak is from or how to recreate the leak in a controlled place?

I'm sure you probably already figured this out. I just had the same problem with mine and it turned out to be the seal on the water pump leaking out the weep hole on the pump. It runs down and hits the pan and trails down to where it can drip off so it's kinda misleading. Eventually it will just start dripping off the harmonic balancer if that's the case. To recreate the issue you might try going out on the freeway and drive for a few min then stop and let it build pressure up and you should see the leak. I could see mine when looking down by the timing mark on the drivers side. The weep hole is on the bottom of the pump nose between the two bearings inside.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Driver side, right?

Radiator could be leaking and filling up the bottom sill and then overflowing out. Look inside the fan housing for that. Or drain plug is on that side, too.

Could have a crack in the plastic tanks on the radiator, or the gasket between the two could be seeping. Since it seems like something leaks when it's not up to operating temperature, maybe the gaskets are swelling up enough when it's hot to stop the seepage. If you've had much of a front end impact, that will jar the radiator parts enough to break the seal and can definitely cause a leak.
First 400 Burb we had, that happened after a minor (for us!)wreck. The insurance adjuster didn't catch it, but I had to put juice in the Burb for 6 weeks, anytime it needed to be driven. Then it got hit by a rec light runner, and that leaking radiator got wrapped around the front of the engine......
I had a minor crack between fins in the driver's side tank on the radiator in the current Burb 3 years ago. I could've had the tank replaced, but it was the original radiator, and for $100 more I could get a whole new radiator. Did that, and no more leaky radiator. Water pumps are common fails on vortecs or really any Chevy motor. Not to hard to do with basic tools.
If you can get under the truck and look up at the harmonic balancer and the water pump, where the lower hose goes onto it, if the weep hole is leaking, there should be a telltale drip line. Gravity makes it run down the water pump "leg" and then down the hose. But that's not on the driver's side, so might be more likely it's the radiator.

 

[jeff1953]

Post here if you have a simple question. This will help keep track of common info and reduce clutter.

I have a 1993 GMC c3500 dully 454 auto, it seams to be getting a lot of fuel, I thought about changing the o2 sensor is their something else I should be looking at also.

 

[Erik the Awful]

You can check the O2 sensor with a multimeter or a scan tool. With the engine in park at 2000-3000 rpm you should see the O2 sensor voltage swing up or down seven times in ten seconds.

 

[jeff1953]

You can check the O2 sensor with a multimeter or a scan tool. With the engine in park at 2000-3000 rpm you should see the O2 sensor voltage swing up or down seven times in ten seconds.

It was moving some but not enough to work correctly, and when I got the truck they had a K&N filter on it and a lot of oil all over everything so I might have to pull the TBI and clean it all up. what do you think, thank you.

 

[Erik the Awful]

It was moving some but not enough to work correctly

Typically when O2 sensors go bad, they get sluggish and only swing a couple times in ten seconds, or not at all. If that's the case, replace it.

Excess oil on the air filter was a problem with airflow meters like the Japanese manufacturers used, but our trucks use manifold air pressure sensors instead. I've never heard of excess oil on the air filter causing problems with the O2 sensor. Most of it would get burned off in the combustion chamber.

 

[xjsciortino]

I'm sure you probably already figured this out. I just had the same problem with mine and it turned out to be the seal on the water pump leaking out the weep hole on the pump. It runs down and hits the pan and trails down to where it can drip off so it's kinda misleading. Eventually it will just start dripping off the harmonic balancer if that's the case. To recreate the issue you might try going out on the freeway and drive for a few min then stop and let it build pressure up and you should see the leak. I could see mine when looking down by the timing mark on the drivers side. The weep hole is on the bottom of the pump nose between the two bearings inside.

thank you. And honestly I haven’t messed with it too much. I put some stop leak in it and just let it idle a few minutes before going anywhere and I haven’t had a leak since

 

[Shawn Eicholtz]

Good day all,
I am looking for reccomendations for an affordable scanner that I can do crank shaft position sensor relearn, and any other useful adjustments I have the snap on brick, i don't believe it can be done with this model scanner.

Thanks!

Shawn

 

[96-2D-Hoe]

Good day all,
I am looking for reccomendations for an affordable scanner that I can do crank shaft position sensor relearn, and any other useful adjustments I have the snap on brick, i don't believe it can be done with this model scanner.

Thanks!

Shawn

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Special-in...790119?hash=item52239cb267:g:QPsAAOSw0v1ddw4D

 

[scottywiley]

Could have a crack in the plastic tanks on the radiator, or the gasket between the two could be seeping. Since it seems like something leaks when it's not up to operating temperature, maybe the gaskets are swelling up enough when it's hot to stop the seepage. If you've had much of a front end impact, that will jar the radiator parts enough to break the seal and can definitely cause a leak.
First 400 Burb we had, that happened after a minor (for us!)wreck. The insurance adjuster didn't catch it, but I had to put juice in the Burb for 6 weeks, anytime it needed to be driven. Then it got hit by a rec light runner, and that leaking radiator got wrapped around the front of the engine......
I had a minor crack between fins in the driver's side tank on the radiator in the current Burb 3 years ago. I could've had the tank replaced, but it was the original radiator, and for $100 more I could get a whole new radiator. Did that, and no more leaky radiator. Water pumps are common fails on vortecs or really any Chevy motor. Not to hard to do with basic tools.
If you can get under the truck and look up at the harmonic balancer and the water pump, where the lower hose goes onto it, if the weep hole is leaking, there should be a telltale drip line. Gravity makes it run down the water pump "leg" and then down the hose. But that's not on the driver's side, so might be more likely it's the radiator.

What HotWheels said. I had same issue with mine. One time fluid on ground, one time could only smell it , one time nothing at all. Finally one day I got a glimpse of fluid up where plastic end cap connects to metal tube and fins part , thingy ( not very official sounding but I don't know what to call it). Anyway changed radiator and that fixed it. This was after I thought it was water pump and changed that and thermostat. Hope this helps or really hope it's already fixed. Coolant problems and electrical problems (PASSLOCK). wear me out!