50 on s10..4.3 leak help

[Mgicm]

So have a 50 Chevy on s10 frame. Retained the 4.3 motor. It's sat for about a week and drove it out of garage. See some water/antifreeze leaking. Pull back in. Fill the radiator with truck off and I can hear some of it dripping onto floor. Keep filling and start it. Starts gushing out. I'm thinking freeze plug or water pump. Any way to tell ehich to lean towards or best way to trace it out? Heres some videos...

https://youtu.be/EWD24RwOfMQ


https://youtu.be/EqM4pwbTaGM

[dsraven]

grab one of those cheap mirrors on an extendable stick from the auto parts place or dollar store, look at the under side of the water pump, there is a weep hole behind the pulley to drip out anything that gets past the seal. also could be running down the lower rad hose if the leak is bad enough. for a frost plug leak, put on some safety glasses and stick your head under there with a flashlight and have a look around. otherwise get a pressure test done or buy the tester and do the pressure test yourself. pump up the tester to the rating on the cap, usually about 15-16 psi. it should hold for a few minutes, engine off and cold. if it is leaking out the backside of the flywheel area then it could be a frost plug leaking behind there. really check the intake manifold gaskets at each end of the heads because chevy used plastic gaskets for a few years and they crack over time. it could be leaking coolant inside the engine too, if this is the case..

[Mgicm]

I have some videos. It sure looked at first to be coming right directly from under the lower pulley. But once I filled radiator and started, it gushed from what looked likeultiple spots..under pulley and more

[Jesse Z]

I'm guessing that the reason it appears to come from multiple spots after starting is because it's being thrown around by centrifugal force or wind from the running motor.

[mr48chev]

Simple solution is that you jack it up, put blocks or stands under it or roll it up on ramps and slide under it and take a look.

Too many things to consider:
leaking water pump.
Bad hose.
hose clamp that got forgotten when it came time to tighten them
Freeze/core plug.
head gasket
Heater core.
Radiator
Pick a number.

[dsraven]

check the stuff that mr48 is talking about and if it still leaks do a pressure test on it.
the video looked like a frost plug behind the engine mount on the driver's side was raining as well as the water pump or a hose connection in that area. a pic or video from the top would help but taking the time to do that, so we can all guess, is time you could actually spend looking yourself for reals. who knows till you GET UNDER THERE.
jack it up, put stands under it or drive it up on something so you fit under it. block the wheels, then check it out with a light, and safety glasses.

[joedoh]

looks like you got caught in the cold with straight water in the coolant. does that sound like something that happened? if you are lucky its just a hose, if you are somewhat lucky it is the water pump and freeze plugs, if you are really unlucky it has cracked the block.


if it hasnt been below freezing there, follow the advice given and get under there to look. a water pump leak is super obvious once you see the weep hole. a broken freeze plug can be less obvious.

[Mgicm]

well im going based on seller. so he says it was half coolant half water in there. but wondering if it all drained out as it sat for a week and came into a huge puddle in warehouse. getting friend mechanic to look at it today.. we shall see what it may be. im thinking water pump based on the drip from dead center of the motor where i believe the weep hole is. but letting the experts tell me. Im just trying to be somewhat knowledgeable when i speak to them about it and understand what to look for/do. Much thanks to all..!!

[Clay54]

I don't want to be an old stick in the mud, but on my 2001 Blazer I had a similar problem. Thought it was the water pump or a freeze plug. Got under the car and I was sure it was the freeze plug above the motor mount on the passenger side. I am not a mechanic but I did block up the engine and removed the motor mount, freeze plug was OK. Rented a pressure tester. Pumped it up and got under and water is coming from same location as I saw before pressure test.

As I said, I am not a mechanic so I took the Blazer to a mechanic. $500+ later it was an intake manifold gasket. I could not see it from the top or the bottom. Clay

[joedoh]

intake gaskets are a real problem on the vortec trucks, if its a vortec clay has a point!

[dsraven]

thats what I mentioned in an earlier post, the intake gaskets are plastic with a perimeter of silicone set into a groove in the plastic. they leak when the plastic cracks and causes coolant to leak out, but also in, so you may have a slightly chocolate milk look to the engine oil if bad enough. sometimes a small internal leak is hard to detect but you can tell something is going on if you remove the oil filler cal and flip it over. if there is milky crud stuck to the back side of the cap then you have an issue.
I am sure your mechanic buddy will pressure test the system but if that is the only coolant leak found then have the gaskets replaced with a metal sandwich style, felpro makes a good one, and also pull the block drains and flush the block while there to get rid of sediment in the bottom of the block.also an great time to replace the water pimp and/or block heater (if equipped).

[dsraven]

http://troubleshootmyvehicle.com/gm/...nifold-gaskets

here is a little explanation with pics for you so you can go into it with some knowledge

[dsraven]

another way to check quickly if you have significant amounts of coolant in the oil is to remove the oil plug for a second and just let a little oil drain into a pan. do this on a cold engine that has sat over night so any coolant will settle out under the oil sitting in the pan. the water will come out first, then the oil will drain.

[joedoh]

looking at the website it looks to be a 91 donor, which werent part of the intake gasket problem. I thought as much when I saw the steel oil pan, but there were a couple steel pan vortec TBI engines, 96 and 97.

but good info dsraven.