OT:Antifreeze leak, 1998 Dodge Durango

Need a little input. Have a leak in a 98 Durango,
can not really tell the exact point of the leak. I
can see where it leaks some, but can not see it
well enough to know for sure. Looks to me to be
either a head gasket or intake gasket. I am
leaning towards the intake gasket as there is no
white smoke coming out the exhaust and there does
not seem to be any oil in the antifreeze, or vise
versa. If it is the intake, I don't want to mess
with the head gaskets. But on the other hand, I
don't just want to do the intake gasket and find
out after putting it all back together its the
head gasket. So, what would you guys do. I guess I
could take the intake of and see if I can tell for
sure that it is leaking, and if I find a
leak there, replace it and hope for the best. Or I
could just go ahead and do all the way down to the
head gaskets since I'm into it this far. What
would you guys do if it was yours?

Sorry, this is on the 5.2L motor.

Near the rear of the head on the left bank? Yes it is a head gasket leak.

or front right side water pump gasket not pump but the gasket they are real narrow on the top right hand corner and will wash out

You need a system pressure check to see what is leaking. About any good shop and some auto parts(some will loan them for free, just a deposit) houses will have the tool you need to use. I would really suspect the intake gaskets.

Sorry, I should have described it a little better. Yes, it is on the passenger side, somewhere right around where the intake and head gasket meet. cold also be the waterpump gasket, which I am replacing anyway. I'm also going to replace the thermo gasket and thermo since I'm already in there. Its in sch a tricky place to see, I can see a stream coming from somewhere in the area I described, but just can't get a good enough look at it because the alt. is in the way. I have most of the stuff off the front of the motor right now. Didn't even think to pressure test it, since I could see where it was. I could hook the water pump back up and the thermo and pressure test it with the alt. removed. That should help narrow it down some. Thanks for the help.

My 99 v6 Dakota was leaking antifreeze on the left front side of the engine. It was the intake gasket leaking. I guess it's a common problem on the 3.9. May be the same on yours. ??

Couple of things I would have in hand if you go after the intake gasket,,, 4 studs that go in the corners,,, new themo and housing (a must!) if you use a aftermarket housing you will need longer bolts,,, By pass and heater hose that goes right beside the themo,,, Make sure to put a piece of cardboard between the fan and radiator so when you knock the fan off you don't fudge of the rad are just tale the rad off first... If the rad has a quick connect on the lower trans line you will need a special tool.... Replace the gasket on the underside of the intake valley pan while their... If the distributor has excessive back lash and play be prepared to replace the lower bushing for the dist. in the block its not hard to do (problem is you gotta know what you are doing to reset it the dist does not have to come out to replace the intake gaskets)... The intake gaskets do grow to the head I would also flush out the injector rails and the screen on top of the injectors while their,,, get a injector O-ring kit worst case at least replace the o-rings that go in the intake... It would also be a good time to replace the crankcase breather...

Water pump,,, all the long bolts go into the water jacket they need a sealer applied to them,,, as you remove the bolts install them in the new pump for reference are draw them out on the water pump box and punch holes in it for the bolts...

There is a dye you can put in the cooling system that will pinpoint the leak with a black light.

Real common for timing chain cover gasket to leak there

Real common for timing chain cover gasket to leak there

Quite common for the metal tube coming out of the water pump that has heater hose connected to it to rust out and develop a pin hole thats very hard to see. They sell the tube at auto zone for about five bucks.

Where roughly is the leak? We did a lot of thermostat gaskets on them. If that's the case use RTV when going back together. I haven't seen too many timing cover leaks, but the ones I did see were easily determined. Not many intake gaskets, but the ones I did see were glued to the head and intake with sealer which prevents the movement of the intake so the gasket rips. Head gaskets were rare. If you suspect it's leaking through to the cylinder there is a dye test that some shops have that will tell you for sure if combustion gasses are getting in there. Hope this helps. Gerard

(quoted from post at 00:50:00 06/11/12) Real common for timing chain cover gasket to leak there

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Yep, right side top corner of timing cover gasket leak is very common on these engines, I've done two in the last month or so. Put a timing chain on it while you're in there.

(quoted from post at 17:00:36 06/10/12) Need a little input. Have a leak in a 98 Durango,
can not really tell the exact point of the leak. I
can see where it leaks some, but can not see it
well enough to know for sure. Looks to me to be
either a head gasket or intake gasket. I am
leaning towards the intake gasket as there is no
white smoke coming out the exhaust and there does
not seem to be any oil in the antifreeze, or vise
versa. If it is the intake, I don't want to mess
with the head gaskets. But on the other hand, I
don't just want to do the intake gasket and find
out after putting it all back together its the
head gasket. So, what would you guys do. I guess I
could take the intake of and see if I can tell for
sure that it is leaking, and if I find a
leak there, replace it and hope for the best. Or I
could just go ahead and do all the way down to the
head gaskets since I'm into it this far. What
would you guys do if it was yours?

Click to expand...

Easy test to see if the intake is leaking. Spray carb cleaner around the intake manifold, if it speeds up it's the intake manifold. The 5.2s are well known to get intake leaks. Do a compression test on the cylinders to help rule out a blown head gasket.

Also pressurize the the radiator, and take soapy water in a squirt bottle and spray around the leaky area to see if bubbles form. Might help to clean that area real good prior to doing the tests so that you can see better.