Intake leak?

Synned · Oct 11, 2005

My exhaust smells like it has coolant in it. It's very thick and sweet and you can't smell gasoline at all.
Im burning collant right?
I did a head gasket check by warming it up and doing a cylinder balance test. It came out good.
The other day after I was drivign a good 40 minutes and parked there was smoke coming from the engine bay. So I opened up the hood and saw whitish smoke or steam coming from behind the intake (looked like).
Is it safe to say I either have an intake gasket leak or something on the back of the intake thats leaking coolant?
Im going to check and see if theres coolant in the oil.
Heres something im confused about. If there is coolant burning does that mean that there necessarily has to be coolant in the oil? I'm going to check the oil today. I'm scared to drive though.
Another thing I think is related to this problem is when the car heats up it runs crappy. It hesitates and stuff. A vacuum leak would cause this right because it would cause a rich condition and air is getting through past the MAF.

Sorry its long, please try to help!
Joe

95COBRA241 · Oct 11, 2005

It sounds and smells like a head gasket. I just hope its not a crack in the block.

Synned · Oct 11, 2005

95COBRA241 said:
It sounds and smells like a head gasket. I just hope its not a crack in the block.

Wouldn't I fail the cylinder balance test if it was a head gasket?

Today I checked my oil, there was no coolant in it at all. Pure oil. That rules out a head gasket...right.
My radiator bottle has a crack in it, i'm getting it replaced but it shouldn't affect anything else.
With an intake leak, is it possible to get coolant into the combustion but not into the oil? An intake leak would do that right.

VetteEater · Oct 11, 2005

Yes, that is very possible. When you car is idling does it surge or idle very high? A crack in the manifold at the coolant passage can cause each of those symptoms. If it were a clown head gasket you would have failed the test that you ran.

Synned · Oct 11, 2005

VetteEater said:
Yes, that is very possible. When you car is idling does it surge or idle very high? A crack in the manifold at the coolant passage can cause each of those symptoms. If it were a clown head gasket you would have failed the test that you ran.

The idle is usually solid. I can't tell if it's idling high because my tach is worng, its a gauge overlay that goes to 1k rpms over stock i forget 7k or 8k.
It does surge however when the car is put into drive when its acting up. It will surge up and sometimes even want to die and then kick up.

Would this also affect performace of the car? My car sucks when its heated up.
Glad to hear its not a hg. I'm going to have the exhaust checked by a shop to make sure theres coolant in it.

Also, what should I do about the cracked radiator bottle situatioN?

VetteEater · Oct 11, 2005

Yeah, it sounds like you have a vacume leak of some sort and the fact that you can smell coolant from your exhaust but pass a balance test leads me to believe you have a cracked mani.

The reason why it runs rough or abnormal is due to the unregistered air entering the engine cause irratic a/f ratio's.

What you could do as a possibility is take carb cleaner and spray all around the manifold where it mates to the block and also where the upper and lower portions mates. If the idle increases while spraying around it then you do infact have a leak......

Synned · Oct 11, 2005

VetteEater said:
Yeah, it sounds like you have a vacume leak of some sort and the fact that you can smell coolant from your exhaust but pass a balance test leads me to believe you have a cracked mani.

The reason why it runs rough or abnormal is due to the unregistered air entering the engine cause irratic a/f ratio's.

What you could do as a possibility is take carb cleaner and spray all around the manifold where it mates to the block and also where the upper and lower portions mates. If the idle increases while spraying around it then you do infact have a leak......

You think my intake manifold is cracked? :-/. The car only has 52k miles on it...I think its a gasket.

Synned · Oct 11, 2005

Could the smell actually be SeaFoam that I ran through the car a few days ago still in the cats?

mo_dingo · Oct 11, 2005

You need to do a coolant pressure test to eliminate a coolant problem. If you aren't losing coolant in the overflow bottle, then it's likely the seafoam you ran earlier. Mark the bottle and run it for a couple days, and see if the level is going down.

So the car runs rough when it gets warm? You might want to look into testing your O2 sensors, or possible your egr or smog pump.
Scott

Synned · Oct 12, 2005

mo_dingo said:
You need to do a coolant pressure test to eliminate a coolant problem. If you aren't losing coolant in the overflow bottle, then it's likely the seafoam you ran earlier. Mark the bottle and run it for a couple days, and see if the level is going down.

So the car runs rough when it gets warm? You might want to look into testing your O2 sensors, or possible your egr or smog pump.
Scott

Well what it does when it runs rough is hesitate while accelerating, backfire, sometimes black smoke out of the exhaust. Its a pain to drive while its like this.
If I drive the car in the morning it feels amazing.
On colder days it takes longer for it to happen than hot days.

loudpedal99 · Oct 12, 2005

How long have you ran the car after the seafoam? Whenever I use it, my car will smoke for at least 30min, and if it's a car that it's never been used on, over an hour.

mo_dingo · Oct 12, 2005

Synned said:
Well what it does when it runs rough is hesitate while accelerating, backfire, sometimes black smoke out of the exhaust. Its a pain to drive while its like this.
If I drive the car in the morning it feels amazing.
On colder days it takes longer for it to happen than hot days.

Are you losing coolant??????

Synned · Oct 12, 2005

Not that I can tell but I just started to notice the smell.

BPA · Oct 13, 2005

As common sense would have it, an obvious start would be by process of elimination. The first step is to correct the leak (i.e. steam) noted in your first post. This can be done by completing the coolant pressure check. There will be a slight to very apparent leak at the point of failure. Secondly, the rough running condition could be affected by the basics (condition of spark plugs, Ohm reading of spark plug wires, condition of cap and rotor, timing, correct fuel pressure, age of fuel filter, and making sure the maf is clean). It probably wouldn’t hurt to check for vacuum leaks using propane (with a valve and hose attached) in the suspected area. Keep in mind that a moderate amount will suffice. By completing of the above, your car should run more efficiently.

Synned · Oct 13, 2005

BPA said:
As common sense would have it, an obvious start would be by process of elimination. The first step is to correct the leak (i.e. steam) noted in your first post. This can be done by completing the coolant pressure check. There will be a slight to very apparent leak at the point of failure. Secondly, the rough running condition could be affected by the basics (condition of spark plugs, Ohm reading of spark plug wires, condition of cap and rotor, timing, correct fuel pressure, age of fuel filter, and making sure the maf is clean). It probably wouldn’t hurt to check for vacuum leaks using propane (with a valve and hose attached) in the suspected area. Keep in mind that a moderate amount will suffice. By completing of the above, your car should run more efficiently.

Every one of those except the vacuum part has been done (either checked or replaced). There was one wire that was leaning against the EGR, could it have damamged the wire? It is all charred and black there.

BPA · Oct 13, 2005

So what were the ohm readings on the wires including the wire in question?

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