hi guys. i dont normally post in the v6 forums, but i have a buddy who has a 98 camaro with a 3.8 in it. a few days ago he noticed his car was low on coolant and went to fill it up, and noticed that coolant was running out of the back of the motor. it appears to be running down in between the block and transmission, and seeps down from there. we removed the started and small cover plate and noticed it is pouring from what appears to be the passenger side. i have heard of intake gaskets going bad as well as freeze plugs going bad, but since i dont know anything about this 3.8 i dont know if it even has freeze plugs in the back of the engine or if a leaking intake gasket would cause it to leak from this point ? any help would be greatly appreciated as i am stumped on this one, as well as my buddy.......

 

Well it could be the intake gasket, but unlikly, as the coolant goes through the intake in the middle and not the aft side. It is possible its a head gasket but more likly a freeze plug. Check to see if the coolant is running on top of the bell housing... if it is, its probably from the head gasket or intake... if not and its running down the back of the engine between the engine and tranny it could be a freeze plug.

Oh one more possible place... and very likely is the heater core hoses at the fire wall.... it could be running out of the and down the firewall on the engine... I have had one of those burst before in an 85 firebird. Let me know what you find.

 

it doesnt look to be coming out of the heater core hoses.... it is dropping down in between the flexplate and the block coming out of the inside of the bellhousing... i will let you know what we find when we get back under there today after i get out of work

 

could be from the rear main seal cover that hold the rear main seal it has a plate with a gasket it happened to mine before

 

I agree with camaro210 probably is the rear main seal cover based on what what you have said. hasn't done that on mine but i've seen it happen to plenty of other ppl

 

yeah thats exactly what it was. it was a complete PITA to change but now it is done and my buddy is back ont he road again. thanks guys .

just an fyi my buddy has always ran antifreeze in his vehicle, and always keeps it mixed properly, and even still it completely corroded that aluminum all to crap.. it had two huge holes in it not to mention the rest of the area was paper thin...

 

no matter how perfectly it's mixed it's eventually going to have its effect. Glad we were able to help. Aluminum can be a fickle beast though