Radiator fluid leak and can't find out where

[dbailey]

DAMN IT! Forgot. I took the tensioner tool I rented from AutoZone back this morning and now can't get the belt off. My 3/8" rachet will not move it far enough to get the belt off. Guess I'll just have to take it to the shop and hope they do a good diagnosis.

[a.graham52]

why wont the rachet move it enough? thats all i ever use and i work on these cars for a living

[dbailey]

I tried it yesterday and the place where I get the rachet to go in will not push it far enough to get the belt off. Will go out and try it again since you know it will work. Will let you know later.

[a.graham52]

its a ratchet. so if you find you get turn it far enough... start over... but go further (in the ratcheting direction) then you started (take a bigger bite at it)

[dbailey]

Yeap you were right. Got it to move enough with the help of something I had to slip over the end of the ratchet handle but....when the tensioner rotated after I slipped the belt off it moved to a place where the ratchet won't come out now. Not enough clearance between tensioner and body. Any suggestions?

[MMGT1]

Your not just dealing with a cracked overflow bottle or a faulty cap are you? Sorry for the stupid post, but I gotta' ask guys

[dbailey]

Great question but I've replaced that bottle like 3 times. Thank God for Dorman's lifetime warranty. That's the first place I checked. For fluid around that area. Everything seemed dry all around there. Doesn't really show any leakage until down around the a/c pulley.

[a.graham52]

Originally Posted by dbailey

Yeap you were right. Got it to move enough with the help of something I had to slip over the end of the ratchet handle but....when the tensioner rotated after I slipped the belt off it moved to a place where the ratchet won't come out now. Not enough clearance between tensioner and body. Any suggestions?

man up and pull the ratchet back? lol. you could also use a long screw driver and turn the direction lever so it ratchets back towards you. jsut look at it and grunt and groan if necessary. you will get it.

[dbailey]

I'm thinkin it'd talk Popeye forearms if you know who Popeye is. lol Maybe I'm showin my age by referring to Popeye the Sailor Man! LMAO!!!!! The area you have to work with down in there is sooo tight it is damn near impossible to get a hold of the ratchet handle much less pull on it to overpower the tensioner spring. Wish I wouldn't have turned that tensioner tool back in.

[a.graham52]

something i have done in the past is reached down there with a prybar and pulled the ratchet out of tensioner and let it fall to the floor. i remember popeye. draw some anchors and those arms of yours and break open the can of green stuff. dont forget the pipe. you might look funy doing it but it will work

[dbailey]

That is tooo funny. Forgot about the anchors! lol Went back out there and tried again and thought of the pry bar but I am not at my house and EVERYTHING other than a limited nubmer of tools are available. Lucky to have the small socket set. Had to improvise a leg off a a bedrail to use as a leverage bar to pry the too short ratchet handle back enough to get the belt off. Its round to can't use it as a pry bar to get the tensioner to flex back enough to get the ratchet out. What a bummer! Will look around and see if I can find something else that it thin enough to slide down in there.

[a.graham52]

Red Green that shit and use a 10lb hammer. beat the fender down out of yoru way, get the ratchet off, cut the belt off. rap some ducktape around the engine to seal it up and grab your favorite waist belt and rap that around your accessory drive. good to go. possum approved.

[dbailey]

Woo hoo! Yeah! The good 'ole North Carolina redneck way! Oh yeah, got the belt to slip past the ratchet. Got the pulley off the water pump and before I even went to start it I can see fluid dripping off the block and right above that is the bracket for the a/c and I can see fluid dripping off of the bottom of that but NOTHING from the water pump. Is there a part of the LIMG that you can't see where it could be leaking? Would it leak even with the engine not running and not having been started since yesterday?

[a.graham52]

its all possible. can you take a pic? i cant picture that much detail sence i had my engine apart 7k ago.

[dbailey]

Probably be too tough to get a good picture. I was able to get my mirror down in there and if you can imagine right below the nut that holds the a/c bracket onto the block, there is a nut I can see directly below that in the mirror and fluid is dripping off of that nut. Not idea what it is holding but it is dripping off of the end of it. Any idea?

[a.graham52]

ill go look at my car

[dbailey]

Ya know I may have just been really lucky in that I had to replace what I assume was the upper intake manifold gasket (IMG) before it hit 100,000 miles and have not had a problem since other than an occassional leak and now I've got over 200,000 on it. I put those vegetable-type tablets that GM sells that you crush up and put in the recovery tank and when I did that probably 50,000 miles ago the leak stopped. I'm not sure of the difference between the upper and lower IMGs. Is the upper one the one that is between the head and the intake that you can actually see right next to the water pump? If it is and you can't actually see the lower one then maybe it is the infamous LIMG that's finally bit the dust on me. Especially if part of it runs somewhere below the a/c bracket.

[a.graham52]

can you verify that there is no coolant leaking from the lower intake manifold? can you look in behind your p/s pump and is it dry? (looking over the red connector). then from the front look down behind the water pump(behind if your looking from the passenger side fender) is it dry in there? if it is dry and your water pump is NOT leaking. then its got to be the gaskets that go between your accessory bracket and the heads.

[dbailey]

Will go look at those 2 places real quick.

[dbailey]

Before I go though, it is from down behind the water pump right below it that the leak is. Real close to the a'c pulley dripping off of that nut you see.