Please tell me I'm not SOL -- coolant leak from high on back of engine

[Goodinblack]

Been there.

Done that.

2X.

1996 Tahoe.

2001 Express G3500.

I did the Van myself. Caught it before it totally ruined the engine. Oil and antifreeze cause a caustic mixture that eats the mains. You are lucky if it leaks outward. Inward it mixes into the oil and eats at the bearings.

Put the engine at TDC pull the distributor.
Also you need new o rings at the fuel rail quick connects. AC compressor can be unbolted and moved off to the left. Up and over. No need to discharge the refrigerant.

PS steering pump and bracket assembly may need to be loosened and pulled forward as well.

Be careful also when removing the throttle linkage at the Throttle body. Plastic crap breaks.

Right side valve cover also may need removal.

 

[strad]

Ok I have the fel pro 98000t gasket set and an extra vcg. Also got a Tstat. The Tstat works fine, but while I'm in there. . . Also there will be a lot of cleaning lol.

Btw what is the lifespan of cap and rotor? I know mine have about 46k on them.

 

[strad]

Ok repair is done. Very grateful to my father in law for his help. He came of age working on small blocks back in the sixties. The previous gasket replacement was done in 2011, about 3k miles before I bought the truck. So the gaskets had 37k miles on them. They were the old style -- no metal backing. And they were both distorted and damaged in a few places. I'm guessing that it was the left one that was leaking, and near the front of the engine, since I had fluid coming out both the front and the rear on that side. The intake manifold bolts appeared to have been overtightened by the last guy in there. Also the distributor housing is somewhat broken where the cap attaches to it -- I'm told that is a common occurrence. Still annoying though. The thermostat bypass hose wouldn't seal properly against the manifold fitting so we had to get a new one. Also replaced the cap and rotor, and the thermostat. And we busted that little plastic emissions line that runs from by the secondary air pump over the top of the motor and thence to the firewall next to the receiver dryer. Auto parts store had that in three foot lengths, so we reused all the fittings and put new line in. Seems that we have stopped the coolant loss.