recently ive smelled what seems to be hot coolant smell in the car.besides a pin hole in the raditor,i keep the overflow topped off every two to three days,raditor seems to be full all the time.But one thing i notice was a small puddle of coolant on top of the intake { in a vally next to a bolt hole } not much just noticeable thou.Would the possibilty of a gasket leak be more probable then a cracked manifold.Car is running strong and starts fine ,not burning oil.Oil looks good infact.I mean lets face it that gasket has been in there more then 20 years,hopefully thats all it is.And if thats it how much would it cost to replace it.20 years ago i would have done it my self but im a tad hessidnt now,i kinda lost my confidence.I live in san mateo if any one has any input.Or any wrenchs wanna make some extra cash lemmie know.I do have tools and a torque wrench still lol...

thanks

Bamboo

I had this problem myself. Check the simple stuff first. Mine was a leak in the upper radiator hose where it attaches to the manifold. Or it could be from the heater hoses. If the oil looks OK, it is unlikely that it is the manifold or gasket. Otherwise, you would also have oil in the coolant. Check for that at the radiator.

HTH

The 4 outside corner manifold bolts go into the water jacket on the block. It could be that one of them is allowing a small bit of coolant to pass by the threads. A dab of RTV on the threads will seal that. Look closely at where your puddle is, try to find a path that the coolant has followed.

hey darbysan
how right you were,it was the top hose.The reason i never saw it was because i never looked at it while it was running,noticed it while working on a friends car at work this AM.Actually he asked why was i leaking all that **** under the car i said i dont know lol....Never thought to look at it while system was under pressure.Time for a new hose and better clamp now.I got off cheap this time.

thanks