brentoleary

I have a coolant leak in my 1991 ZR1. Looks to be coming from the transmission cooler line where it tees into the upper intake on the passenger side. I noticed a trail down the intake and a puddle in the valley. When I pull on the tee it just pops out with no resistance and coolant runs out.

Does anyone know how the tee should be held in place? I don't see an O-ring, but surely something seals it and keeps it from popping out.

I'd appreciate any insight or links that show an exploded view of the proper assembly. I'm a newbie here - so take it easy on me .

glass slipper

There is no transmission oil cooler on a ZR-1. Try taking a picture of the area you're talking about and maybe we can identify it.

brentoleary

The Tee that goes into the upper intake between the 1st and 2nd set of runners appears to be the culprit, just not sure what to do to secure and seal the tee. It just pulls out with very little force.

Luckily the previous owner has great pics of the car on the web already .

VetteMed

That has nothing to do with the transmission whatsoever. It's simply a coolant line for circulation through the plenum. If the metal fitting is pulling out of the plenum, you probably need to drain the coolant from the cooling system, and sand/prep the mating surface and use epoxy to secure the fitting back in.

brentoleary

Much thanks for the help, I wasn't sure how it was supposed to be attached or sealed. Any recommendations for type of epoxy to use? I'm kind of suprised that it is simply epoxied in place, do these fail often on the LT5?

The hose has "transmission cooler line" printed on it, so I incorrectly assumed the printing was correct - guess it was just the "wrong" hose used when it was replaced somewhere down the line.

VetteMed

I'm sure one of our local LT5 assembly experts will be along soon to tell us what the "correct" sealant or epoxy is -- I'd probably just JB Weld it back in place and see how that went

I haven't heard anyone else mention one of these fittings pulling out of the plenum -- but I'm sure it's been known to happen.

That hose was probably just bought off of a reel at a parts store.

brentoleary

An update in case anyone else has this problem. I went with the JB weld. I drained the coolant from the plenum, pulled the tee, scuffed, cleaned (acetone) and epoxied Thursday night then let it set up for >24 hours. I just went for a test drive and so far so good. Says it's good to 600 degrees, so that ought to be good enough for the plenum. If it fails in the near future I'll provide an update for the sake of posterity, otherwise I will consider it fixed. Thanks again to VetteMed for the help.

Z51JEFF

If it starts to leak again just bypass the entire coolant line all together.Some have drilled-tapped the holes for threaded plugs.

VetteMed

Thanks for the update, keep us posted!

brentoleary

Unfortunately, looks like the JB weld isn't going to do the trick. I drove the ZR1 to work today and smelled a little antifreeze on the drive home. I popped the hood and a tiny little stream of coolant was coming from the spot where I epoxied the Tee fitting.

Does anyone have detailed instructions on how to reroute the plenum coolant. I read something about Heart of the Beast, Issue #10, April 2007, but couldn't find the article with my admittedly rudimentary googling skills.