Coolant leak from crossover gasket

[cfiiman]

Hey everyone,

I was looking around after a run in the viper today and I noticed a little tiny green coolant when looking through the red intake at the back of the engine. I see that there is a slight leak (very tiny, no drips or anything) starting at the gasket and one of the bolts. It is just "shiny" damp with a green tint but would like to fix it. I searched a hundred threads and realize it is pretty common, but some seem to say you can replace the gasket without pulling the intake and some say not, so what is the answer? How tough a job is this? I'm thinking Mr. Tator can get me the gasket right? I figure I'll also replace the T-stat while i'm in there so any reason to go down to a 180? I don't really see it b/c my service manual says after the car is warmed up the radiator/ambient air/fan control temp so 180 would just open 10* sooner on warm up right? I don't see the advantage unless I'm missing something. My service manual shows the crossover but does not show a removal process, from what I can see it looks like 2 "star" pattern bolts on each side, anyone have any more help on it? Thanks!!!

 

[jdeft1]

It can be done without pulling the intake but if it was me... I'd remove the intake just to make it easier. You may want to swap plug wires too when you have the crossover out of the way (way easier..that way). Good time to swap out the old hoses too.

If you buy gaskets (intake/crossover/t-stat) don't forget to trace the new ones onto a piece of heavy paper so you can make your own in the future.

My .02

 

[1994viper]

I asume your car is GenI. When mine was done 2 years gao, my mechanic had to pull the intake. Also, make sure that the themostat housing is not warped, as it was in my case. Or you will have to do the same job with in a 2000Mi again. Aparantly the housing is made of two parts consisting of two different metals... Therefore after many heat cicles they tend to warp.

 

[cfiiman]

Thanks guys, Yes gen 1, it is a 94. I took a photo (best I could anyway) to make sure I am actually talking about the crossover, here it is below, the arrows show the bolt I saw a little green seepage on and the gasket had the "shiny" green tint too, that is the crossover right, this shot is taken right at the very back of the intake?

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[Tom F&L GoR]

I have medium size hands but am stubborn. It can be done without removing the intake if you remove the wiper arms and remove the cowl. The wiper arms are scary because you have to pop the plastic cover off, but then it's only four phillips screws to remove the cowl. As in your picture, you'll need the female torx sockets; my recollection is the intake is male torx sockets. Use a little gasket goo to stick the new ones in place on the thermostat housring so they don't fall when you put it all back together.

Replace the green coolant. It is old technology, only good for 2-3 years, and the new long-life coolant is far better conservatively advertised at 5 year/150,000 miles. The completely different chemistry will also prolong the life of your water pump and (!) head gaskets.

Since you are making room for your hands, it is a good time to replace the plug wires. It is also wise to look at the coolant hoses that run around the back of the block-especially passenger side. There are cables and struts that the hoses can rub on, in my experience. Use plastic cable ties to secure them in place afterwards.