Rx330fnboi

I have 2 trickle drip leaks I noticed last week. I haven’t driven the car much at all since putting in new fluids but it’s been on a little over 2 hours and driven about 4 miles. One drip is from the transmission pan and the other is coolant coming from the 12 o’clock position of the driver side. Right above and to the right of the starter. I am hoping it is not from the head gasket.

I believe it is more likely coming from the water inlet housing. It bolts on with 3 10mm nuts into studs in the shape of a triangle and has another single 12mm bolt holding the tube onto the engine.

I made the mistake of putting the old one from the bad engine on because the new one had an electrical sensor connector that didn’t exist on the wiring and I should have just left it on because an extra component with a sensor without a wire for that sensor makes the sensor irrelevant but I guess it could have been another location that could fail and simpler is better. There being no benefit to having a sensor in a component why bother having it there all.



But I just examined the old one I took out and saw the aluminum mating face of the component has some black gasket material that stuck on it so some material was removed from the gasket and I’m thinking that is what’s causing the trickle. It’s basically dripping right down the seam between the bell housing and the transfer case and is coming down around one tenth of a mm per 30 seconds if even. But it’s enough to worry about.



The transmission pan has 2 bolts on the inside of one of the corners that won’t tighten up enough they just keep spinning. I stupidly tried putting some tiny self tapping screws in between them and the leak might have reduced as a result but they are still leaking. So I’m thinking my best bet is to drill with a 9/32” drill hit and tap with an m8x1.25 tap. But what size bolts should I get length wise? I’m thinking round 1/2”-15mm? I have 3/4” but they are too long. I was also thinking I could take two oil pan bolts out of the bad engine (Which I believe are the same thread pitch and length) and try to see if those will tighten but that’s probably a waste of time and the threads going into the bell housing are likely shot. Or I could try helicoils but don’t j have to drill and tap to install those? So why not just drill and tap for bolts?





I’ve had this car running for a total of 2 hours and driven all of 4 miles.



If it turns out to be a bad head gasket this is going to be hell but I do already have a set of MLS head gaskets. The biggest issue then will be doing it with the transverse mounted engine in the bay that’s tilted back towards the fire wall about 20° Then I’ll have to remove the timing cover and timing belt with all of 300 cubic inches of space to work in. I am really hoping it’s the water inlet housing. I could get dye and a light but I’m thinking I could do the work in 2 hours maybe a little more cross my fingers and hope that takes care of it.



What would everyone do in my shoes?



Im thinking i should have a new battery tomorow. Im going to install that and diagnose the electric issues hoping it was just the battery or a bad ground placement. Then I’ll tackle the transmission pan. I put the self tapping screws dead center of the pan lip and they were 1/4” diameter so there should be enough gasket material and RTV left across the mating surface to seal the pan once I get those bolts tightened up properly. I would like not to have to remove the pan and drain all the fresh fluid.



As far as the coolant goes I’m planning on draining that into a super clean 5 gallon bucket and filtering it through cotton just in case before reusing it.



But after I drain the coolant, remove the air box disconnect a few wires and remove the starter I should be able to get that tube out easy. I’m going to clean up the metal one with the sensor and use that even though the harness has no sensor because I hear rhe black plastic ones get brittle and crumble/ crack. But I’m going to replace the gasket on the thermostat. I think it’s one that you have to remove the thermostat and put it onto the thermostat since it has a lip inside the center that the thermostat fits into so that the rubber seals both sides of the thermostat. But should I put a small bead of RTV on the housing mating surface as well? I have a feeling that isn’t necessary and might be a bad thing to do.

im kind of glad the battery has kept me from driving since these drips are really bothering me and I wouldn’t feel good about putting miles on this engine with them no matter how small they may be.