Hello,

I just finished putting my car back together after changing valve cover gaskets, spark plugs and the front cross-over coolant joint. For the front cross-over-joint I had to pull the intake manifold to access it. I had a look today and can see a leak at the rear cross-over coolant joint. See the attached photo.


Leak at rear coolant joint

Seems like it's leaking at the connection from the metal pipe to the aluminum housing. I had a look at the part and it seems it's one piece.
Do I have to pull the ******ing manifold again to replace this? Is there a way to repair this without replacing the whole joint. Super annoying.

 

You obviously would have seen that when the intake was off which means it's new. It looks like the vertical pipe took a hit when the intake was moved which compromised the joint where the pipe meets the extrusion. Plan on replacing the entire part along with the 2 gaskets. Not sure if the intake will have to come off again or not....?

 

I would assume that bypass casting bolts in aft of the intake. While it won't be easy, You shouldn't have to pull the intake...

 

Yes I did not see any leaks at this part when the manifold was pulled. I guess somehow I hit it or twisted it and broke the seal. Grrrr. I guess I have to see if I can access the inner most bolts.

 

 

If you're a tightwad, I'd clean it up as best as you can and spread some goo around that joint, like some urethane sealer. I've done some pretty dirty things with urethane and it does work as gasket material. So far its holding up as the thermostat housing gasket on my girlfriend's VR4 Galant, and I boogie'd up a radiator leak on my old 4A GE Corolla, and that held as well. Let the urethane go right off before you use the car. If it holds, well its only a few bucks you spent instead of hours and new parts that you didn't need, if not, well it was worth a try

 

 

Did you ever find a solution. I have the same issue after putting the manifold back on. I'm losing the entire reservoir after an hours drive.

 

Yes clean it up and put some Toyota FIPG / seal packing compound on the pipe where it’s leaking. It’s very difficult access as there’s all sorts of obstructions around it but it’s held for several months and I haven’t had to add and coolant since that time.

 

Toyota FIPG ( Form In-Place Gasket) is amazing stuff. It is the highest quaity RTV sealant I've ever seen/used and many other experienced techs for other car brands use it because it is so good.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I was going to try these two products hoping to get a seal from the inside and outside.

 

My opinion is K-seal could work if the leak is very small. The challenge I had with the external sealing is the back of the pipe. There’s a lot of obstructions. In my case I couldn’t hit a certain spot and there was a bit of a leak, but over time the coolant seems to crystallize and dried up and blocked the very small leak that was left. Applying the FIPG with my finger and stick was the method I used. With the spray it may be hard to direct it to the right area.

 

Coolant system sealing additives and spray can gasket sealant band aid fixes are an improper repair and risk compromising or permanently damaging cooling system components.

If the patch fails then you risk overheating the engine.

In this instance correct repair is easy to ascertain.

 

I was curious, are these repairs "affordable" with Japanese cars (when I say that not necessarily $500, but maybe $1000? Or does it get crazy. What I'm thinking is say a V8 BMW that has a coolant leak could be $10,000 and the tubing looks similar to the one shown. That's why you see older 2000's V8 BMWs a) sellling for 4 figures b) driving around with white smoke out the tail

My experiences with Bars stop leak was that it ended the life of my Volvo as soon as I poured it in. Bad stuff.

 

I don’t see how there is much risk. It’s a small external leak and you can easily check the coolant level to see if it’s dropping. In this case I’ve been driving for a long time with no drop in coolant level. Applying FIPG saved me a few hundred dollars in parts and at least 4-5 hours for pulling and installing the manifold.

I can’t speak for every stop leak product but I had good luck with those Bar’s stop leak pellets. They finally sealed a small leak on my wife’s Saab that 4 garages could not diagnose.