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Frustrating unknown leaks

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Old 01-22-05, 12:04 AM
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Frustrating unknown leaks

Hi all , could someone pls help me identify what item is this and if it needs to be blocked off? i am runnin on microtech . i had some coolant leak which i dont know where it came about and i hope its not from this hole..... i took the UIM off and tore the gasket... what a frustrating day.....

and i have this leak like as if some oil is squirting out from the exhaust manifold. i cant trace where is it. i check the oil lines and its ok , i check my blocked OMP and that is ok too.anyone have any idea?

thanks all.

btw , my car idles with only a light tap on the accel(without it would stumbles for awhile and dies even after warm up) , do u think it can be solved by adjusting the idle speed screw? or tightening the throttle cable? im sure it is not on low compression . i havent zeroed the ignition timing yet too

and with me lightly on the accel , the microtech reads 19HG and i get around 42psi on fuel pressure... is this all ok?

i am using 1:1 premix , and i see a lot of white smoke... is this normal? cause the car is sitting for 3 months already...

Old 01-22-05, 12:53 AM
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1:1 premix????? holy ****!
most people use 1QT:tank!!!
Old 01-22-05, 12:57 AM
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oops i think i got that wrong...

what i meant was 1 oz to one gallons...i have 10 gallons of gas and i poured in around 10 oz of 2 stroke oil....


anyone for my above problems?

thanks a lot
Old 01-22-05, 01:03 AM
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that circled thing has a plug that goes in it... of the electrical variety...
Old 01-22-05, 01:04 AM
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actually... is it off a s4 or s5?
there's a coolant hose around there somewhere that flows to the TB...
Old 01-22-05, 01:29 AM
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its off an S5..... =) , so do u think it would leak coolant off there? should i plug it or something?

can anyone address some of my other problems? thanks a lot
Old 01-22-05, 11:54 AM
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anyone have any idea?
Old 01-22-05, 12:12 PM
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the thing circled is an electrical plug. I broke mine last night. It was one of the last things to be unplugged while taking off the wiring harness. It has a chocolate brown square shaped plug with a small wire around it for retention. It could have been stuffed back under the intake and you would never see it under there.

Don't ask me what it does.....I just know that I broke mine removing it.
Old 01-22-05, 02:29 PM
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looks like an aftermarket sendor for water temp gauge. because the stock water temp sender is right next to it in green.
Old 01-22-05, 03:39 PM
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so it shouldnt cause a leak?

anyone know about my other probs?
Old 01-22-05, 03:48 PM
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white smoke = internal coolant seal?

can you smell the coolant?
Old 01-23-05, 01:27 AM
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coolant seal? but that never happened when the car is still running 3 months ago?

u mean the white smoke smells like coolant from the bottle? ..... cause im running on premix do u think that will cause the white smoke?

i checked everywhere and still cant find the unknown coolant leak....shall snap more pix soon
Old 01-23-05, 10:07 AM
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Originally Posted by FC_mania
coolant seal? but that never happened when the car is still running 3 months ago?

An engine will still run with a blown coolant seal.



u mean the white smoke smells like coolant from the bottle? ..... cause im running on premix do u think that will cause the white smoke?
If you are burning coolant, the white smoke will have a 'sickly sweet' smell to it. Premix will not cause white smoke.



i checked everywhere and still cant find the unknown coolant leak....shall snap more pix soon
I don't think that more pics will help with this. If you're going to find the leak, you need to go over each of your hoses with the engine running. Look at each hose. Run your hand over it, top and underside. Look at the connections. One nice thing about coolant leaks is that if they are leaking onto a hot surface, they will leave a green/white trail behind. Look for that.
Coolant leaks also happen at the heater core (the one in your dashboard that keeps your toes warm.) You can listen for this by turning your heat from full cold to full hot (again, with the engine running.) Listen for gurgling. Now rev the engine a tiny bit. More gurgling? If so, the heater core is probably leaking. When you go to replace it you'll probably find that nifty green/white trail on it.
Old 01-23-05, 11:09 AM
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alright amur i will check it like that........

i thought if i have a blown coolant seal i will have a thin layer of oil fil on the radiator water level when i check it? ....there is no sign of oil film in there too.........
Old 01-23-05, 11:22 AM
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Originally Posted by FC_mania
alright amur i will check it like that........
It's about damn time.


i thought if i have a blown coolant seal i will have a thin layer of oil fil on the radiator water level when i check it? ....there is no sign of oil film in there too.........
Nope. And if you ever do find a little oil there, don't sweat it. It's normal. It's not common (although you'll find that FD owners report it more often) but it's normal.
Old 01-23-05, 11:48 AM
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couple things, 1) The sensor circled is the water thermoswitch. It is used to tell the fans to come on.( Pg.E-8andE14 in the factory service manual. The car will run without it. As my 90 has a bad sensor and it runs just fine. and with microtech i would hope you can control fan operation better than the stock ECU.

2) Yes coolant will and can leak from that sensors threads if not tight enough or debris is in them. If it is that sensor try some teflon tape/pipe tape.

3) To help you find those hard to find leaks, do as Amur said. Also a nice aid is to go to NAPA or equivilant and pick up some coolant system Dye. It is a dye system that you put in the coolant system and run the car. After a few minutes when the thermostat opens, you take a black light and shine it all around all the hoses/fittings. If there is a leak there you should see a flourecent green dye that glows under the black light.

Also shine the light along the core and end tanks of the radiator. I have found quite a few cores that were seeping coolant out over a long period of time.

Also IF the leak is not visible, but you can see a puddle overnight or the level just keeps going down, The freeze plugs on the rear end plate(behind the flywheel) sometimes corrode and spring a leak. Also some under the front cover. I have had a S4 dp that to me and it took me almost 1 week of searching to find the leak. You can check the tranny bellhousing for puddles as well inside it. But THAT is NOT a common issue usually. We have a TON of corrosion in Hawaii so it is more common here

19 inches of vaccum is OK and 42 PSI of fuel is good too. It can be many things with idle on these damn cars. If you just put the Microtech in I would have to "guess" that it just needs some fine tuning for idle. Or maybe the ignition as you mentioned. But to be safe do a compression check just so that you can rule that out as a possible cause. No matter if the car ran good before the changes or not. Just rule it out

Last edited by BigIslandSevens; 01-23-05 at 11:57 AM.
Old 01-23-05, 11:56 AM
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Originally Posted by BigIslandSevens
couple things, 1) The sensor circled is the water thermoswitch. It is used to tell the fans to come on.
It's also used by the ECU to determine engine temp, and thereby how to set the air/fuel mixture.



( Pg.E-8andE14 in the factory service manual. The car will run without it. As my 90 n/a has a bad sensor and it runs just fine.
But you're in Hawaii. He's in Kansas. And it's wintertime.

I broke that sensor on my car 2 winters ago. She was impossible to start in freezing weather without a boost b/c when the ECU stops getting a signal from it, it defaults the mixture to what it would be if the engine were at normal operating temperature. If you're in the middle of a hot summer, you're not likely to notice the difference. If you're in Canada and it's January and 10F out, you're gonna be pounding your hood against the dashboard.
Old 01-23-05, 11:59 AM
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i was just going to update my post as to the effect on fuel/air mixture, Thanks for catching that. And yeah my weather plays a huge role in the running characteristics of the car they never change However I will say that on some extreme cold mornings here i have some cold idle issues until the fan shuts off and i blip the throttle a couple times. Then all good.
Old 01-23-05, 03:32 PM
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thanks a lot bigislandsevens........all this explanation helps a lot
Old 01-23-05, 03:33 PM
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btw im running on the stock mechanical clutch fan , no a/c , no ps..no emission at all too.....
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