Antifreeze leak

Phil D

Member
Nov 19, 2020
13
2
13
USA
Hi guys just had a trickflow top end kit installed, I'm seeing antifreeze on top of the timing cover/ waterpump left & right side valleys,in front & behind the gasket, the thermostat housing is leaking slightly, could the timing cover be leaking to, no antifreeze leaking down the sides & dropping on the ground, only see it on top, any help will be appreciated, thanks
 
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Did you install yourself? Sounds like you have quite the mess.
No it was a lil to much for me to handle, had a reputable shop do it, car runs great, told the shop about the leak & that I was going to change the thermostat gasket, I've done that before, he said no problem, I'm just not 100% percent that's the only place it's leaking, like i said i only see it on top of the timing chain cover, seemed odd to me that it would leak out the top of the cover & no where else, is that possible?
 
I had similar issue after I changed my water pump. I used half a bottle of ceramic powder from Advanced. Most people would probably frown on it, but I have used it for years. Claims to do no harm. Its a little plasic jug. About twenty bucks. Says ceramic on it . Its small so you have to look. Good stuff.
 
You could try snugging down the bolts on the thermo housing and timing cover.
It's probably just the thermo housing , those can be tough to seal sometimes.
Stant makes a self adhesive gasket for those that makes install easier, gasket won't slide out of
position on you.
If you had a shop install this stuff why not have them fix the leak , if your car wasn't leaking coolant
when you dropped it off it shouldn't be returned that way.
 
You could try snugging down the bolts on the thermo housing and timing cover.
It's probably just the thermo housing , those can be tough to seal sometimes.
Stant makes a self adhesive gasket for those that makes install easier, gasket won't slide out of
position on you.
If you had a shop install this stuff why not have them fix the leak , if your car wasn't leaking coolant
when you dropped it off it shouldn't be returned that way.
I did snug all the bolts like u said,I agree with it shouldn't be leaking after getting it back, the shop is about 30 miles from my home & didn't want to drive it back there just to have the thermostat gasket changed, I've done them & know they can be tricky, thanks for the info on the adhesive gasket.
 
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Best pic I could get, to the thermostat housing apart to replace the gasket, looked inside & saw that, can anyone tell me if that's normal? It's a piece of gasket, its attached but it's a strip of gasket that isn't between anything.
 

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See if you can snag that gasket with a bent clothes hanger or the like. May be a piece they cut off from the water port (felpro). However,if it continues to leak,take it back.
I was able to have my friend stop over & look at it, he said it was nothing to worry about, just the way the gaskets made, fits more than 1 intake, figures the shop I had do the work forgot to trim it, he knows foxbodys well & all cars for that matter, he's got a 10 second 87 fox that he built, I would've had him do the work on my car, but he hurt his back & had to have surgery.
 
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I was able to have my friend stop over & look at it, he said it was nothing to worry about, just the way the gaskets made, fits more than 1 intake, figures the shop I had do the work forgot to trim it, he knows foxbodys well & all cars for that matter, he's got a 10 second 87 fox that he built, I would've had him do the work on my car, but he hurt his back & had to have surgery.
Hi monkeybutt, how bout I put a new thermostat gasket on & its still leaking, its leaking from the intake side, dry on the housing side, my friend told me to call the man that did the work, & ask him about GM stop leak, that never leaked on me before,as long as the thermostat is in there right & I believe it is, guess its cause it's aluminum,(intake).
 
Do the bolt holes go through to inside of the water jacket?
They don't on my gt40 lowers.
The thermostat may have slipped out of place, easy to miss.
Also make sure the bolts are not too long or there's crap in the bolt hole stopping the bolt from tightening up.
You sure it's the t state housing?
 
Do the bolt holes go through to inside of the water jacket?
They don't on my gt40 lowers.
The thermostat may have slipped out of place, easy to miss.
Also make sure the bolts are not too long or there's crap in the bolt hole stopping the bolt from tightening up.
You sure it's the t state housing?
Not sure on that 1st question, before I took the thermostat housing apart, I held a mirror under it could see it was wet,put a new gasket in, made sure thermostat was right where it needed to be, bolted it up let it sit overnight, started it up & after it got up to temp I put the mirror underneath & sure enough small drops of antifreeze from the intake side.