Coolant leak around the throttle body on SPFI?

[Syonyk]

I found a number of threads discussing coolant leaks on carb'd engines, but there weren't any discussing the SPFI EA82s.

 

My name is Russ, and I have a coolant leak. *waits for greeting*

 

Coming to work, I noticed a cloud following me, more than the usual cold exhaust cloud. It's a fairly short trip, and it was quite cold out, so I wasn't too concerned, but it was definitely coolant (I could smell it when I was leaving the highway).

 

I popped the hood at work and took a look - most of the smoke was from coolant boiling/burning off the junction of the Y-pipe. It seemed that there was also steam coming from the throttle body area. There was also pooled coolant on the top of the block. I'm assuming it just ran down from the block & was blown back into the exhaust area.

 

Is there still a coolant line or two going from the block to the fuel injection throttle body like the carb'd ones had? And, if so, what's the easiest way to check/replace it?

 

-=Russ=-

[hush777]

There are two coolant lines in that area. One is located just under the intake manifold. It is visible from the front if you look around the power steering pump and the other end of the line goes to just under the thermostat housing.

 

The other line in that area is just behind the throttle body and hooks to a cross-over pipe about an inch in diameter.

 

Hush

[somick]

 

The other line in that area is just behind the throttle body and hooks to a cross-over pipe about an inch in diameter.

 

Hush

 

Yes, the metal pipe that comes out of the heater core. It looks like it seats rignt on the top of the engine. The L-shaped rubber hose 5/16 in diameter connected to this metal line goes up into the throttle body.

I have a post about it. Tried to replace it with the regular hose but it would not hold long (no more than 12 months).

And yes I had small puddles in this area when it leaked. They evaporate real fast, so it's hard to diagnose if you don't do it right away.

 

Sam

[FUJI-HEAVY]

I had that hose by the thermostat go on me and damn if it didn't take a long time for me to find it. Should have come here first. The real *************** was tightning the new clamp on in such a tight spot. That was a fun 3 hours.

[Bill90Loyale]

If it's not a leaky line, it might be that the throttle body gasket blew. Mine did (at about 175k). Caused the white cloud and some performance issues. My mechanic replaced it, so I can't advise on difficulty, but it wasn't expensive.

[hooziewhatsit]

I had my hose on the back of the throttle body develop a little hole in it. Would only leak while driving, and then the evidence would be evaporated before I could look at it.

 

While taking that hose off one time, I tweaked it just right and got it to squirt out the hole in it. It got replaced later that day.

 

So... give those coolant lines a good little tugging/pushing around on, just to make sure they are/aren't the culprit(s).

[Syonyk]

I'm pretty sure it's the coolant line going from the thermostat housing to the engine block. It doesn't look fun to replace, but I have the replacement line in the car now. I'm going to work on it tonight. The end of the line joining into the engine block is wet and kind of bloated looking.

 

I think I can do it without taking the manifold off... I think. I just hope I can find my long screwdrivers.

 

-=Russ=-

[Syonyk]

OK! It's fixed. I just took it for a good hard run and it's not leaking. Steaming a bit from the radiator where it got wet from the spray earlier, but no "fresh" steam.

 

Tips & suggestions:

 

You have to pull the intake snorkel off to get at the rear of the hose. Pull the snorkel off the airflow sensor (by the airbox) and off the throttle body, remove the front hose from it, and rotate it around to the back to get it out of the way.

 

A long screwdriver with a big handle on it will be VERY helpful. At least on mine, the rear hose clamp was very tight & difficult to remove.

 

The easiest way I found to get the hose off is to loosen the clamps, remove the front one (and the rear if you can, I couldn't), take the hose off from the thermostat end (it's easy to get at), then just twist & yank until it comes off the back. It will leak coolant from the back connection, assuming you still have most of your coolant in the car, so have the replacement hose cut & ready to put on when you pull the old one off.

 

You can cut coolant hose with a steak knife if you can't find anything else. I suggest washing the knife afterwards.

 

And, the trip to the parts store for the coolant hose is a good excuse to get some Seafoam for your oil & gas. A bit of high RPM work on the test drive, and zero clicking.

 

Anyway, hopefully this is helpful to someone.

 

-=Russ=-