Thread: coolant on spark plugs

I replaced the coolant elbows and it seems to have stopped leaking as much as it was before, but it seems to still be leaking a little bit. My hoses flattened and I looked up what that possibly might be. The leaking is coming from the back but I can't tell if its originating from somewhere else. The rear coolant elbow at the purple o-ring going into the water pump didn't seem to go in as far as I thought it would. Should the back edge on the outer side of the purple o-ring stick outside of the water pump a little bit? It doesn't seem to be leaking at that point.

Would the hoses get sucked in and flatten if there was a leak to worry about?

Hoses flattening is usually a sign of a bad radiator cap.

On the elbow.. the elbow sticking out or the o-ring. The edge of the elbow should..not the o-ring.

Nah, the o-ring is not exposed. Just the raised portion sticks out a bit. The ends inserted into the tensioner/heater hoses get jammed way in there. I guess thats due to the flow coming from that way. If that's correct. I'm not even sure of which way the coolant flows. Is it coming from the heater hoses to the manifold and water pump?

Yeah I figured the cap could be a problem. It looks like a newer cap, but I let the dexcool get all crusted up on the interior of the cap. I'll try that next.

Thanks.

Ok, so far it looks like a new radiator cap fixed the problem. So far no flattened hoses. I did notice that the alternator wasn't spinning while I was letting the car get up to temp. Is that normal?

Originally Posted by USF3983

Ok, so far it looks like a new radiator cap fixed the problem. So far no flattened hoses. I did notice that the alternator wasn't spinning while I was letting the car get up to temp. Is that normal?

thats impossible. you sure you looking at the alt?

Yeah, I had it off earlier and it was spinning with the pulley. I didn't torque it down to spec since I was going anywhere with the car, but I figured if the belt was on the pulley the alternator should be spinning.

make sure your belt is on right, it should be quite tight, and nothing should be free wheeling at all, or not spinning.

I'm an idiot. lol. It's spinning. I was thinking the outer shell of red wiring was supposed to be moving. The inner part underneath IS spinning.