have an issue with coolant leak...LIM maybe?

[ecko614]

well, im back again with another god forsaken problem. Just replaced the heater core 2weeks ago, so i know thats not the problem. But i woke up today, went out and warmed up my car like i do every other morning. Unfortunately, we was down to 0 degrees last last, with a wind chill of -15....anyway, started it up and i instantly heard my power steering whining pretty loud. Got out and decided to check it out....power steering fluid was not clear-it was a milky muck color...dont know what thats from?? then i noticed what looked like a coolant slushi on my water pump. Is the water pump bad and in need for a change? then i looked under the front end(with engine running) and noticed 3 steady dripping streams of coolant coming off the backside of my block(closest to firewall)....LIM?? or what?? Thought i could be slick and drive around the block real quik....big mistake. All i could see on the ground behind my car as i drove was mass amounts of liquids all over the ground. Not like little drips...think street sweepers when they get the road wet. got back home and coolant was bubbling out of the top of the reservoir....with the lid on!!! i let it cool down, went back out there and refilled the reservoir and started it back up. Bled the coolant sytem real quick and everything was fine. Still the ugly whine from the P/S, nothing visually happening with the W/P, but the 3 steady streams of coolant still coming off the backside. PLEASE HELP ME!!!! thanks very much for your time and your inputs

[ecko614]

Just went outside and checked the bottom of my oil cap.....its deff got somethin funky on it. kinda like a whitish/somethingish color on it. I called auto zone and they got 2 diff kinds of intake mainfold gaskets. one is for $33 and it doesnt have pushrod guides and then they have another one for $53 and it does have pushrod guides. Would the $53 one be the better choice here? Whats up with the whole pushrod guide thing? Does that mean i can put the gasket on without having to remove the pushrods? Like it just slides over the top of them? thanks alot

[ecko614]

anyone??

[ecko614]

gee....thanx for the help to the 20 ppl who read it with out any input. thats the way it goes....ppl need help-other ppl have the knowldge and dont use it....the world keeps on spinning. once again thanx for nothin

[95Grand-Am]

The intake gasket that you need depends on your rockers. If you have the ball style you will need the one without guides. If you have the roller you need the one with the guides. a coolent leak on the backside of the engine is most likely a heater hose. On cars that see wild out side temp changes like 50 one day then 0 the next you might see a like whiteish film on the oil cap from condensation. check the oil on the dipstick to see if it looks like water is in the oil. Or look into the valve cover to see if there is alot of milkshake like paste in there.

[IsaacHayes]

Actually if you get the metal felpro or dorman ones, they have the guides anyway. I found that out on the felpro metal ones. I had to loosen/remove ALL pushrods instead of half to get the gasket installed and then put the push rods back in. (in order of course).

You certainly have more issues than just a leaky LIMGasket but I would not rule that out. The first time I caught mine going out I was told the condensation was normal for that time of year (winter) but turns out it was the gasket, and even with wild temp changes I don't get any under the cap.

You did put enough antifreeze in with the water right? Check the heater core hoses again and check the freeze plugs (not sure if you can see them or where they are at if they are on the back).

[ecko614]

im gonna check my hoses again today because im pretty sure thats what it from, but i dont know about these freeze plugs. I dont know where to look or anything. I thought i had a perfect 50/50 ixture, but its not lookin as if i did. I checked on the price of freeze plugs and the are cheap as dirt. I dont know where they go, how many i need or anything

[ecko614]

the hoses looked pretty good from where i was at. But i started it to see if i could pinpint the leak a lil better.....smoke is coming out of( not dumping out massivly) the valve cover with the oil fill neck on it. for a second i thought it was coming from around the header, but its lookin like the smoke is coming from all around that valve cover. Not a hundred percent positiv, but thats where i just seen smoke....all in the general area. Any ideas on what this is??