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Bad Coolant Leak

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Old 05-26-2016, 05:40 PM
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Car: 1991 Firebird
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Bad Coolant Leak

Hello. I drive a 1991 Firebird with a 3.1L V6. Earlier today, the vehicle ran out of coolant. I added more and noticed that the coolant seems to be leaking out of the small hole on the bottom of the flexplate (torque converter?) cover. Where do you guys think this leak could be coming from?
Old 05-26-2016, 07:04 PM
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Re: Bad Coolant Leak

Originally Posted by evan555222
Hello. I drive a 1991 Firebird with a 3.1L V6. Earlier today, the vehicle ran out of coolant. I added more and noticed that the coolant seems to be leaking out of the small hole on the bottom of the flexplate (torque converter?) cover. Where do you guys think this leak could be coming from?
If it's dry at the top back of the engine , where the intake manifold meets the heads , and if your 100% certain it is coming out of the torque converter cover from the little weep hole at the bottom of the cover , then the most likely candidate is the block plugs (sometimes called "freeze plugs") at the back of the engine (behind the flexplate on the engine side) . If so , The transmission will have to be removed to gain access to replace the leaking plugs . When it happened to mine , I took that as my cue to pop the engine out , throw a fresh gasket kit at it with a timing chain & gears , and all new brass block plugs rather than the cheaper ones that corrode quicker .

Good Luck with it ......
Old 05-26-2016, 09:36 PM
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Car: 91 Firebird/88 Firebird/91 Formula
Engine: V6 3.1/V8 5.0/V8 5.0
Transmission: 4L60/700R4/4L60
Axle/Gears: 3.23/2.73/2.73
Re: Bad Coolant Leak

Here is where mine was pouring out of. And the lower one had almost rusted through as well.
Attached Thumbnails Bad Coolant Leak-20160124_140537.jpg   Bad Coolant Leak-20160124_142644.jpg  
Old 05-26-2016, 09:44 PM
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Car: 1991 Firebird
Engine: 3.1L V6 LH0
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Re: Bad Coolant Leak

Originally Posted by OrangeBird
The transmission will have to be removed to gain access to replace the leaking plugs . When it happened to mine , I took that as my cue to pop the engine out , throw a fresh gasket kit at it with a timing chain & gears , and all new brass block plugs rather than the cheaper ones that corrode quicker .
My engine also needs a new rear main seal, so I might go ahead and use this as an excuse to take care of that as well.
Old 05-26-2016, 09:45 PM
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Re: Bad Coolant Leak

Antares: Yeah, I'd say those look pretty bad.
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