Hey guys, my Max went in for yearly inspection and my mechanic noticed coolant stains running down the rear side of the block. He thinks it may be the head gasket. Are they any coolant lines tucked up there that may also be the culprit?

 

Not sure where on the rear it is, but I did some searching and hoping that it's the rear oil cooler pipe. When that pipe goes bad, does it leak at the block connection?

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...oler-pipe.html

 

Check pipes on tb

 

How many rear connections are there for the throttle body?

 

Inlet and an outlet re: coolant.

 

Doh! Thanks man. I'm just beside myself thinking that this could possibly be a head gasket issue. I searched and a leaking gasket seems to be ultra rare for our cars.

 

OK, got the car back from the garage. The mechanic said the leak is in the right rear corner of the engine he thinks it is the head gasket, and he can do it as a side job on a weekend.

I just popped the hood and think that I may have found the leak and it looks to me, to be the rear water outlet gasket which is like a 1/2" above the corner of where the head meets the block.

The right #8 in this pic:


I think I may take it to someone for a second opinion before I get the work done.

 

If it looks like its coming from that pipe I would get a 2nd opinion.

 

Thanks. I am already looking into getting someone else to look at it. Also, as soon as the engine cools down, I am going to slip my long, skinny supermodel fingers down there and see if the bottom of the pipe is moist. That would be a sure sign. I can see coolant buildup in the corner down there so I am hoping and praying it's the gasket.

 

Just for closure on the issue, it was the rear outlet gasket.

 

Quick bump

Thanks for the update (it's great when threads with a problem have a solution). I just found out that I am leaking from there as well. Had to use a UV dye to track it. Did you do the job yourself or your mechanic? Do you know how long it took/ how hard it was? It looks pretty tight in there with a lot of stuff to remove, but I want to get rid of that stupid leak.