Coolant leak under the intake manifold

Discuss topics related to the CA18DE and CA18DET series engines.
DarylInDurham
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2016 9:12 am
Car: 1988 Nissan Pulsar NX

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Hi everyone,

My son just bought his first car (he's 16). It's a 1988 Nissan Pulsar NX with the CA18DE engine and manual tranny. He bought it "as is" and without me getting a good look at it so of course the car has some issues. There's a few things wrong with the car but for now I'm asking for advice on the most important...we've got a fairly serious coolant leak coming from somewhere underneath the intake manifold. When the revs are mid-to-high it bleeds out about a litre of coolant in 20-30 minutes.

We've had no luck yet seeing exactly where the coolant is coming from, getting access to the area is proving impossible due to lack of space.

I'm unfamiliar with this car and engine so apologies if my questions are noob-ish...I'm a gearhead and my son is learning so we aren't afraid to get our hands dirty.

1) Can anyone provide a pic the underside of the intake manifold looks like? Maybe with the engine out of the car? I know there are coolant hoses (including a metal one?) running underneath there but would like a pic to see what at the moment I can currently only (barely) feel.
2) Is this a typical problem/weakness with this engine?
3) What's the easiest way to change the hoses underneath the intake, can we access all the hoses without having to remove the intake manifold or pull the engine?
4) Is there even room to remove the intake manifold without lifting the engine? Seems access to all the mounting nuts is impossible!
5) I'll probably want to change ALL the coolant hoses, where's a good source to buy a complete coolant hose kit for this car?

I don't have much history on the car, the PO passed away about 4 years ago and the car sat ever since. His widow (who knows next to nothing about cars) told me that the engine was changed a few months before the PO died so there are almost no miles on it (I think that's probably correct, the engine is super-clean and runs like a Swiss watch).

If there is anything else about this engine I should watch for or question I should have asked but didn't please feel free to let me know!

Thanks in advance for the replies.

Cheers,
Daryl


Buddyworm
Posts: 416
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 2:55 pm

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In RWD CA's the heater lines run under the intake manifold. I'd imagine the FWD ones to be fairly similar. There's also a bunch of other auxiliary coolant hoses under there.

A coolant pressure tester would help you run down that leak without having the engine running and hot.

User avatar
float_6969
Moderator
Posts: 19853
Joined: Mon Aug 26, 2002 1:55 pm
Car: CA18DET swapped 1995 Nissan 240sx (too many mods to list)
2015 SV Leaf w/QC & Bose (daily)
Location: Topeka, Kansas
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First off, welcome to NICO! Your best bet for this car is to become acquainted with the FSM (Factory Service Manual). You can find it here; http://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual? ... r_1989_FSM I would suggest downloading it to your PC so it's always available. Also be aware that when you're looking in the FSM that you're making sure you're looking at the CA18 engine and not the GA16. In a given section (LC-Lubrication and Cooling for example), the GA engine is listed first, then the CA.

To answer your specific question, I'd say to get the vehicle up on a lift and observe it running from below. Access to below the intake manifold from under the vehicle, at least on the RWD CA18's is pretty easy.

dash
Posts: 575
Joined: Fri May 05, 2006 4:07 am
Car: s13 ca18

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let's hope it's not that stupid little coolant fitting screwed into the block
I'm about to pull my ca18 from the s13 in a bit, because of that corroded sucker
Too much of a pain to do in-car. Gotta change turbo same time, and a few other items


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