Massive Coolant Leak

[Hook'em_Horns!]

I have a sudden massive leak and trying to find the source. Passenger side rear, I’m leaving a trail 10” wide. The intake tube is wet topside with some spray up on the Hood liner, right rear inner fender, battery tray, fuel filter, intercooler tube, pretty much all over this quadrant of the engine bay. Leaks (POURS!) only with the engine running, with no pressure on the cooling system and it’s not heater hose related. The highest point I’ve found so far seems to be in the rear area of the exhaust manifold, passenger side.

Waiting for a total cool down to check further, I’ve got about a 1 mile range until low coolant warnings appear along with the temp climbing. Could this leak be EGR related? Can’t think of anything else in the area that would leak this volume of fluid.

[jaydawg]

Might be the EGR cooler....

[Hook'em_Horns!]

Yeah, that's what it was. Here is the culprit:

The hose was Split from one end to the other. Of course the 'O' ring on the tubing dissappeared, hope I got a good fit for the replacement.

Checked out the egr intake blockage, not to bad for 90k miles. As you can see, the job goes smoother with a 'Shiner' assisting.



Of course this blockage has nothing to do with performance and the rest of the intake has only a very thin layer of buildup.


Glad this blew a block from the house, with an 1-3/4" gash in the hose, I could have easily been stranded.

[08 Black Max]

Do you think failure was friction or did parts fail due to time/normal wear and or a design flaw that we will all see?
Any ideas how to prevent this failure, cause I'm all about the prevention side of repair/maintain its cheaper and easier to do for me to that, since I do not have a place and or lot of tools to do repairs.
How hard was the repair just curious?
Glad to read that all is ok now.

[jc1843]

That hose looks like it was soft from being in oil- rubber cannot tolerate oil very long before it will become soft and loose strength. If it is neoprene then that should not be a problem.

Higher than normal coolant pressure will cause a failure on weak hoses-- check the reservoir cap.

Exhaust in cooling system will weaken hoses.

Better check all hoses after that failure- may have other hoses going bad.

Hope this helps.

[Hook'em_Horns!]

Oh, I’m all about preventative maintenance and had this been easily visible I may have noticed early on the signs of a potential hose failure.

The location of this tube/hose is not subject to any oil contamination; it’s above the manifold,
(90 degree tube with the yellow wire above it)


below the EGR intake/valve assembly and runs from the manifold to the EGR heat exchanger
(hose portion can be viewed from a step up, looking straight down from top center, between the turbo intake tube and EGR intake tube)


which in turn feeds coolant to the heater core at the firewall.

Exhaust in cooling…that would indicate bigger problems than this hose failure. Friction is not an issue, as it touches not a thing, although design/location may subject it to higher external temperatures than the coolant’s internal temperature. 5/8” heater hose…is there anything stronger to use in this location?

As to ease of repair, it wasn’t necessarily difficult but it was time consuming and NOT something done on the side of the road, IMO.

Remove the intake tube, Resonator, Turbo Mouthpiece (mine is the LMM mp, maybe not with the LLY mp), detach wire bundle atop the EGR intake tube (with white tie holding in pic above) and then remove this intake tube. Pull the hose clamp at the EGR heat exchanger, remove the bolt securing the tube and pull out the tube. Also a new ‘O’ ring will be needed, and I STRONGLY recommend rags in the open engine portals to eliminate creating a bigger problem with items dropped!

Had I been further from the shop than just a few blocks away when it blew, a tow would have been in order. Had this hose failed a few weeks ago during my late night turnaround run to Houston with Hurricane Relief supplies,


I would’ve been screwed. :moon

I would suggest adding a looksee to your under hood inspections at this area for a potential problem growing.

[Ctll]

My 05 just did the same exact thing yesterday and this was a great help Thanks!
125783 miles tows six days a week.

[usafracer]

Glad to see that you guys got them fixed. Now its time to block the EGR

[Hook'em_Horns!]

Originally Posted by Ctll

My 05 just did the same exact thing yesterday and this was a great help Thanks!
125783 miles tows six days a week.

Yer Welcome...Hope it didn't leave you stranded.

Originally Posted by usafracer

Glad to see that you guys got them fixed. Now its time to block the EGR

How would this prolong the lifespan of a heater hose?

[bigdaddydiesel]

If it was the EGR cooler like mentioned before, would and EGR blocker solve this? there then would be now need for this hose would there?
IDK, my trucks do not have it...