hey guys glad to be here.....

i just bought a 94 z28 LT1 few months ago. my problem is that i seem to have a pretty good coolant leak. i rented a coolant pressure tester from autozone the other day & finally have a good idea where its coming from but cant get a good enough look to pinpoint the exact source of the leak. it seams to be coming from the driver side head area between the firewall & head. back there i unplugged the oil pressure sensor to get a better look using a mirror & flashlight. right below that oil sensor there is a bolt head & thin steel line going in. well the leak seems to be in that area but until i get it checked out i cant tell where it might be coming from. my buddy doesnt think its the gasket since i have no oil in coolant & vice versa & the car idles & drives fine. so does this location sound like it might be the head gasket or is that location prone to have coolant leaking from something other than the head like the steel line i mentioned

thanks for any help,
Juan

 

The bolt head and thin line is the coolant return line from the back of the heads. It has a fairly delicate rubber edged seal. Shoebox has the details:

http://shbox.com/1/steam_pipe_seal.jpg

http://shbox.com/1/93-94_hoses.jpg

 

You can also see the steam pipe in this pic.

 

wow thanks for the quick reply, i hope it turns out to be that seal. my buddy also mentioned the seal, i just hope its something that simple. is that a known troublespot? thanks for the info & pic....been trying to find a pic of that location last couple nights

 

Generally not a problem on an unmolested stock engine. Once the heads have been pulled, its a crap shoot.

 

Yea, its a fun fun time replacing while the heads are on. very much doable though..

 

well i think i may have pinpointed the problem......
i was finally able to angle the mirror good enough to see the exact source of the coolant leak. i was hoping it was coming from the steam line but.......i noticed a pinhole stream of coolant coming from the gasket. the location is right below the hole thats right below the bolt & steamline. if my buddy does this repair for me can we just do the gasket on one side or is it recommended to do both at once? if he backs down from attempting the task, what is a ballpark figure to plan on spending on this head gasket repair from a reputable mechanic?
man this crap pisses me off so much....now i wish i would have gotten that late 80s corvette(that was my other choice) but oh well that would have been more money invested & i got this car for a third of what i would have spent on the vette not to mention any repairs or the insurance

well lesson learned......BE VERY CAREFUL when u buy a car off ebay

 

any brand of head gasket that everyone recommends or doesnt recommend? what else should i replace while the heads are off since the car has 128,000 mi. ?