'04 Intimidator supercharged - plenum gasket replaced but still leaking
#1
'04 Intimidator supercharged - plenum gasket replaced but still leaking
Hello.
I had coolant leaks showing up just below the supercharger, in the valleys near the intake and just behind the front injectors. At first, I thought the plenum gasket was failing so off came the supercharger. Indeed, the gasket was not in good shape.
So, a new Felpro gasket with the integrated sealant rings was installed, everything put back together, start up the engine and all looks fine.
However, after a bit of driving, I'm starting to see a small amount of coolant reappearing again in the area highlighted in red only. The original section (in blue) is dry now.
I can dry the valley highlighted in red, drive around again and see a very small pooling of coolant again.
After the first time, I thought maybe the bolts weren't torqued down enough so I made sure they were again at 17 lbs/ft and drove some more. More coolants were pooling again in the red region of the pic.
I'm just wondering where this coolant could be coming from now. Is my gasket not doing the job (it's obvious but wondering if that's really what it is). Everything was replaced (including the two yellow gasket o-rings. The mating surfaces were scraped nice and clean so no left over gasket material were left behind, no dirt, nothing.
Is the intake possibly warped a bit, enough for the coolant to leak through? Would I need to use a paste to make my own gasket to make sure that everything is sealed properly? Do the bolts need sealant (although it doesn't appear like the bolts go through any water jackets).
I don't think that the LIM would allow coolant to get up that high, even the water pump is lower than this.
Any thoughts?
Thank you in advance.
I had coolant leaks showing up just below the supercharger, in the valleys near the intake and just behind the front injectors. At first, I thought the plenum gasket was failing so off came the supercharger. Indeed, the gasket was not in good shape.
So, a new Felpro gasket with the integrated sealant rings was installed, everything put back together, start up the engine and all looks fine.
However, after a bit of driving, I'm starting to see a small amount of coolant reappearing again in the area highlighted in red only. The original section (in blue) is dry now.
I can dry the valley highlighted in red, drive around again and see a very small pooling of coolant again.
After the first time, I thought maybe the bolts weren't torqued down enough so I made sure they were again at 17 lbs/ft and drove some more. More coolants were pooling again in the red region of the pic.
I'm just wondering where this coolant could be coming from now. Is my gasket not doing the job (it's obvious but wondering if that's really what it is). Everything was replaced (including the two yellow gasket o-rings. The mating surfaces were scraped nice and clean so no left over gasket material were left behind, no dirt, nothing.
Is the intake possibly warped a bit, enough for the coolant to leak through? Would I need to use a paste to make my own gasket to make sure that everything is sealed properly? Do the bolts need sealant (although it doesn't appear like the bolts go through any water jackets).
I don't think that the LIM would allow coolant to get up that high, even the water pump is lower than this.
Any thoughts?
Thank you in advance.
Last edited by sorcier11; 01-26-2015 at 01:19 PM.
#2
Well it turned out to be the LIM gaskets failing. Two openings were very distorted when I pulled them out.
I didn't think that the coolant would wick up, over the gaskets and into one of the valleys of the intake manifold. If anything, I thought it would have leaked down somewhere.
So, a few hours later, new gaskets lower and upper (below the supercharger), hopefully this takes care of coolant leaks.
I didn't think that the coolant would wick up, over the gaskets and into one of the valleys of the intake manifold. If anything, I thought it would have leaked down somewhere.
So, a few hours later, new gaskets lower and upper (below the supercharger), hopefully this takes care of coolant leaks.
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