420A Coolant leak from the back of the motor on the drivers side

[Eclipseguy_36]

Ok this is my first post here so hope fully i can get some help here. I have a 97 eclipse with the 2.0 NA in it. I just finished re doing the motor in it and put it all back together. I drove it to work this morning and drove beautifully. When i parked it and went to work. It started leaking coolant from the drivers side of the back of the motor. Any idea what it could be?? Thanks for any help yall can give.

Ps its the 420a engine.

 

[ThunderChild]

Have to investigate the location, but I believe that's where the heater core hoses are. Might also have TB coolant lines there, but I can't recall on the 420a exactly.

Check for loose clamps and try to track down the exact location of the leak.

 

[Eclipseguy_36]

Not sure if it matters or not but it is a 5speed manual trans

 

[silvreclips]

The heater hoses are back there. There is no throttle body coolant circuit. Pull the intake off and you should be able to see what's going on.

 

[Mech Addict]

so I recently though I might have had a coolant, and did a bit of research on the freeze plugs. There is a specific tool for testing this, where you top up the system (use water for now) and use a special cap with a pump, and pressurize the system to find the leak(s). If you had the motor overhauled, it could certainly be a freeze plug, but more likely a hose of some kind just needs tightened. My local NAPA will even loan out this tester, although I found a quick n dirty method. Simply get the cooling system all full, and give the upper radiator hose a good squeeze with both hands, right in the middle (not near the clamps). Because the water/coolant is incompressible, it should raise the pressure enough to see a leak dribble out. This won't reach the same high pressure as the tool, so some leaks may only show up when the coolant gets closer to the boiling point. If it is a freeze plug, then it sounds from other users that pulling the motor back out is the best way to deal with it.

 

[Eclipseguy_36]

I will definitely do that when i get home.

The heater hoses are back there. There is no throttle body coolant circuit. Pull the intake off and you should be able to see what's going on.

 

[DirtMcGirt]

Did you use bolts or studs to secure the head to the block? The four corner bolts (or studs) are shorter, and I believe that the drivers side rear corner hole wasn't fully machined from the factory. The solution is to cut the bolt down a few threads which should allow for a full seal at the correct torque. If you used studs, and fully screwed them into the block, that seal should be fine.

 

[Eclipseguy_36]

I used studs on it. I talked to a friend of mine after i had it towed home. He went and looked at it and pulled the intake off and said that the hoses to the heater core had poped off. Im going to guess i need a lil smaller squeeze clips for those lines?

 

[Mech Addict]

Probably the best outcome. Getting just the right sized springy clips can sometimes be a pain, at least where I live. Changing from stock hoses to another brand can leave them just out of spec. Consider ones that have threaded adjustments, if you can’t get ones that fit snugly.

 

[Eclipseguy_36]

Ok update yall. I didnt have to pull the intake at all to discover that the ruber hoses that attach to the metal piping for the heater core had failed... So i went and purchased 2 new hoses and changed them both out just to be safe. And success no more leaks. Thanks for the help yall.