Borjawil Posted June 9, 2020 Report Share Posted June 9, 2020 09 3.5L 114k just swapped in a used engine. Noticed a coolant leak coming off the oil pan behind ac compressor. Removed compressor and see the plastic housing that connected the small and large coolant lines. Thought it was the gasket or housing. Cleaned up surface and replaced housing. Still leaking. I can see it coming from above that at the corner of the front head gasket. its running down/off the corner of the head gasket that sticks out past the mating surfaces. Ideas? Id say coolant pump under timing cover, but that sits in the middle of the engine and lower if im not mistaken. Note that this is occuring just by filling the collant reservoir. engine not running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted June 9, 2020 Report Share Posted June 9, 2020 Haven’t worked in a 3.5 since my brother got rid of his 300 two years ago. It had mostly electrical issues so I hardly touched the engine. No pics makes it guessing game. Leak on front of engine often water pump; bearing weep hole is hard to check out without mirror and timing covers removed. But weep hole is a pressurized leak normally. Milage kinda low for a pump change. Maybe micro crack in one of the plastic parts. Is this pic the big/small hose part you changed ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borjawil Posted June 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2020 Sorry didn't update this. The two half dollar sized o rings between timing cover and engine block were deteriorated very badly. Can't seem to find these or the large one for water pump between cover and block either. Any one got a part number? But yes I replaced that part as I thought that was it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borjawil Posted June 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2020 finally found it. I use alldata at time for manuals and I gotta say its pretty shit as far as explaining things and pics for procedures. Sometimes has parts numbers. Did not for the seals. But go to this link and itll give a diagram. Seal #11 for water pump and 2 #2 for the passages to and from pump. Seals rear timing cover to block. However searching ebay and google using timing cover gasket, or adding rear and seal generates not a whole lot. Water pump seal generates mainly the molded squiggly gasket for the water pump housing. Next question, what size are these? Because im seeing $15-20+ per o ring. Ridiculous. If I new the size I could just order that size. Might remove and go to my hardware store that has everything obscure. ill chime in if I figure it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted June 12, 2020 Report Share Posted June 12, 2020 Could try rockauto or other on line parts guys. May not be a stock item. Your vin on Mopar factory parts site should locate part numbers. Here is Canadian site. https://www.mmparts.ca/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borjawil Posted June 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2020 Forgot to include link but yes moparts online store found it. Rear timing cover seal it was called. Measured my recessed areas for gaskets sizing. Ports on block are smaller than recessed area on cover. The two smaller gasket area are 41mm OD and ports on block are 27mm. Recessed gap is 5-6mm. Depth is 3mm. Ordered the smaller ones at 40 OD with a 5mm thickness so ID would be 30mm. Allows for squish in the recessed area and block surface area. the larger gasket is 105mm but Grainger only had standard size that would fit. Got a 3/16" thickness and 1.54 or 1.58" OD. Measured the OD on cover at 1.61. Grainger sells o rings for cheap. Got the two smaller and bigger one for pump for $20. Rather than 15-20 each. They're rated for 500 degrees and will holds up against chemicals. I know the stock ones are squared o rings, but I also saw round o rings being sold for these areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borjawil Posted July 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2020 So used the o rings from grainger, still a leak up front. Cant see from where real well due to AC compressor being in the way, but I could see far enough it looked to be coming from between the timing housing and block. Ordered OEM gaskets, the 2 smaller o rings, and the bigger x-ring with knubs. Similar to the water pump gasket. Filled up reservoir, no leaks like the first time. Ran it, no leaks. Then it warmed up and Im assuming thermostat opened and it leaks again at the same area. Im going to recheck the the plastic housing and gasket that was mentioned above. Any other spots to check? Freeze plugs? If it is leaking between the timing housing and block, where could it be coming from? Makes no sense to be at this point. I cleaned the surfaces before putting in new gaskets and replacing housing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhareFred Posted July 9, 2020 Report Share Posted July 9, 2020 Have you checked the water pump? It’s behind the timing belt, might be what’s leaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borjawil Posted July 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 Changed the gasket on the water pump. I do have another water pump I could swap in. Guess I'm wondering how the pump could be leaking if it's sealed around the fins to the block and pump to the timing cover. But it sounds like it is based on when it's leaking and the whole pressurized leak thing mentioned earlier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted July 10, 2020 Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 4 hours ago, Borjawil said: Changed the gasket on the water pump. I do have another water pump I could swap in. Guess I'm wondering how the pump could be leaking if it's sealed around the fins to the block and pump to the timing cover. But it sounds like it is based on when it's leaking and the whole pressurized leak thing mentioned earlier not sure about your water pump but all the old ones had what they called a weep hole in them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borjawil Posted July 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 I'm guessing the weep hole shouldn't leak much. Other than a worn pump what could cause it? About to dig in and see where it's coming from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borjawil Posted July 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 (edited) Ok so put in different pump. Still leaking. But now I have a better idea of where. Above the black housing shown earlier in this thread, where the timing housing and head meet the block, is where it's coming from. Attached pic for reference. Look on the left side of the black housing, where you can see the light come from above and there are two dark circles/holes. There's a little stream of water shooting out. Car not running just filled the coolant reservoir. Ideas? Edited July 10, 2020 by Borjawil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borjawil Posted July 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 Took a pic of engine pulled and circled where leak is. Circled leak in installed engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted July 10, 2020 Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 (edited) Wow that seems weird. Holes in pic don’t look like machined openings, very odd. Did the removed engine have the same holes in that location. When I started to get a drip last year on my 3.6 I changed out my pump. Leak was from a degraded area of gasket, pump was fine and could have been reused. Too much work to take a chance so new pump was installed anyway with new oem gasket. All water pumps I have seen have a weep hole, it’s an early warning that bearing seal is shot, drips a bit as a warning. Bearing craps out quite soon after leak starts and liquid washes out bearing grease. How was glycol in the wrecker engine, nice and clean or was there straight water in it? Torque wrench used on water pump bolts? Edited July 10, 2020 by John/Horace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borjawil Posted July 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2020 Ok so get this, best I can pin point it with timing cover off, it's coming from where the head meets the block. Used my finger to try and disrupt flow. Wtf. No issues coming with a blown head gasket, tight spot but I don't see cracks... Going to tighten the head bolts a bit and see what's up. I'm open to suggestions. Pic is from front passenger corner looking down. It's right where the head gasket sticks out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borjawil Posted July 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2020 Well here's one for the books. Removed head. This is the engine o swapped in. Who knows how long it sat. Coolant passages had rust corrosion goop build up. Looks like it damaged the gasket right at that corner. Could be warped, likely not, but I'm gonna bring it in to be checked because I'm not taking this engine apart for the....8th time? 2late4u and jkeaton 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted July 11, 2020 Report Share Posted July 11, 2020 51 minutes ago, Borjawil said: Well here's one for the books. Removed head. This is the engine o swapped in. Who knows how long it sat. Coolant passages had rust corrosion goop build up. Looks like it damaged the gasket right at that corner. Could be warped, likely not, but I'm gonna bring it in to be checked because I'm not taking this engine apart for the....8th time? like every thing else at least you are getting good at taking it apart and putting it back together again and probally faster each time.... OhareFred and jkeaton 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borjawil Posted July 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 Removed the head and there was decent pitting around that water passage and another. Replaced the head gasket and bolts, and so far no leaking! Worst two months ever haha. Seems this engine was sitting sometime and theres a decent amount of gunk and rust in the passages. Any preferences on what cleaner/chemical to use for flushing all my coolant passages/radiator? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted July 16, 2020 Report Share Posted July 16, 2020 There are several acid type cleaners, Prestone is a local brand here, Follow instructions don’t leave in engine too long, very corrosive. Wrecker stuff is sometimes a roll of dice, I have had issues before with used parts. Great you got in running again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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