So last week I noticed my coolant overflow tank was empty. Definately thought that was strange, in three years never had a coolant leak. I started looking around and noticed that the stabilizer bar was wet, on the passenger side. Tasted the fluid, it's antifreeze. I grabbed a flashlight and found where the coolant was coming from. Timing cover. Crawled under the car, coolant is spewing out (just had the car running). The size of the puddle under my car from coolant leaking out was pretty impressive. It was really hard to tell if the timing cover was eroding around the water pump outlets or if it was coming from behind the timing cover. The next day I took it to the shop where my friend works for a second opinion. He checked it out and his findings were the same as mine. He's getting a quote together for me for what it would cost him to fix it. Right now with school and work I don't have time to do it myself. He said for what it'll cost it probably isn't even worth it. I know there's no way I'd afford to be able to afford it. I'd wait till summer to do it, but I know there's no way it'll last that long. For now, I'm keeping an eye on it.

For those of you who have had this problem, how long did it take you to tear down the front of the motor and complete this project? Even more importantly right now, how long do you guys think this could be let go for? The way it is leaking, I'd give it until spring at the most before. The mechanic said for right now it's okay to leave it, but not to wait too long. Thanks for any input

 

you could do a timing cover in a day no problem. it might take all day, but getting it done in a day should be fine. the only thing is you will need to know what you need before you start . . . if you need a new water pump or timing cover, it would probably have to be ordered by a parts store, or you could try to score a nice used one . . . while you have the timing cover off it is a really good idea to change the timing chain, as they are a maintenance item and should probably be changed every 100k for maximum efficiency.

 

hmm, i dont know much about v6's but how does coolant leak from the timing cover? this sure cant happen on v8's,

 

The water pump is mounted on the timing cover and has pass-through holes so the water can get to the block.

 

hmm

ohhh