It could very well be the LIM gasket leaking.
Hopefully someone who has had this issue will post.

 

Ok, if its a LIM that would mean it would dump coolant where? with the oil? These dang engines are blowing my mind right now. Half way tempted to drop the 4.0 from my jeep into it I can work on those engines all day long...actually it's the only engine i've worked on tbh.

However, I just started the car with the coolant cap off...i don't know what I was trying to accomplish but the fluid didn't come to the top. Well i shut her off and put the rad cap back on. let her run a bit (like 3 min) to inspect the suspected area..i tried getting a cooling system pressure tester the one they had didn't work with the rad. Well the caps on cars running i'm inspecting the area and nothing to bubbles i sprayed some soapy water on the area and nothing. Well after that i shut it off and checked the rad for *hits and giggles what do you know the coolant...green not dexcool was sitting right at the top with coolant in the overflow tank to boot. now i head gargling once I opened the cap so there has to be air. PO replaced the waterpump a few months ago and never really drove it. So there could be air in the system from his waterpump replacement.

Would it be damaging to add some distilled water to the system to fill the airy void? Run it like that for awhile say 50 miles and if its still properly level flush it nice and good and replace it with the proper coolant...dexcool

 

In my experiences, iveseen lower intake gaskets leak and leave a visable puddle, other times not. You see chocolate looking oil where coolant mixes in . As you already tried, a pressure tester is really the best way to sort out what exactly you are dealing with. If there is a leak , be it intake gaskets, the elbows or whatever.
Not sure if autozone has a tester that would work. Mines a snap on tester and many different rad caps for various makes.
If you suspect air In the system . There is a bleeder screw on the top of the thermostat housing. Crack it open, think it 1/4 wrench . Do that a few times until no air bubbles. As far as green vs dexcool, I'd put dexcool back, but a lot of these green coolants say dexcool compatible so you may be ok.
Onto the ac issue, the way I understand the question, you have cool air just not a strong breeze. Does the fan motor blower **** operate on all settings? I mean by that on #1 it's low, and up to max does the blower speed change?
If not I'd suspect a bad blower resistor.
But back to original topic, from the photos it's hard for me to tell, I see the lower hose wet, but again the best way just have it pressure tested and in 2 minutes you'll know if and where the leak is.
Again though if is intake it's not a huge deal, if mechanically inclined at all you can do it yourself in a few hours. Parts wise just need an intake set, I'd change upper gaskets as well. Do an oil change, gallon of antifreeze, and I always replace the elbows too. Those o rings on them don't seal good after being pulled out and back in.
Biggest pain in the sack is the egr stuff and hoses around the throttle body
These are bullet proof engines, not that hard to work on, just a little patience. The issues you seem to have are what I consider normal piddly things that happens to these cars once they get some years on em.

 

Thank you, So i'm fine with running distilled water with the green coolant for like 50 miles just to make sure its not a leak? I might just fill it up with water and take it to a shop to have them pressure test it..because autozone doesn't have the proper fitting for the rad. If you know off the top of your head how much coolant does the 3.8 hold? Also the milky looking oil happens all the time with a leaking intake manifold?

 

Hey Captn.

Just another possible problem with your AC issue might be a leaking vacuum line. I had the same problem a while back. Check out this thread with pictures: https://montecarloforum.com/forum/mo...um-leak-53466/

 

Perfect, I'll check for vacuum leaks. I didn't hear any but my neighbor bought a smoke machine to check for vacuum leaks. He bought a Pontiac Grand am gtp awhile ago and its full of problems.

Let's hope that oriellys has the right pressure tester for my system. Also let's hope the problem is one of the hoses .

 

You might not need to do a smoke test if you just follow the 1/8" line described and pictured in the thread. I didn,t hear the leak either until I pulled the hose up and got close to the break.