Aggie76

Posting here in Tech Section as well as General.

Decided to wake up my 2013 C6 from it's winter nap this afternoon. Been sitting in my pole barn since mid-October with CTEK 4.3 attached just like previous four years. Uncovered, adjusted tire pressures, removed CTEK, pulled out steel wool from tailpipes and picked up Bounce sheets. Started right up and moved it over in front of garage to let engine warm up.

Went back into barn to pick up the tarp and horse stall mats and noticed pink fluid on the tarp under right side near where the water pump would be. Opened hood and noticed burning smell and noticed a light whiff of smoke coming from under the front of the exhaust manifold direct under it but can't see a leak.

Any ideas on where it might be leaking and what would need to be done?

Not a great way to begin the season.

Brandon619

I would suspect your water pump is leaking, it's a common failure on C6's.

Aggie76

Yeah, I thought it might be it but its back under the manifold. Not up by the pump.

Brandon619

Ah I see, a good old flashlight inspect might find it? Good luck.

schpenxel

Need a picture or better description for us to have much chance of helping

Aggie76

I let the car sit overnight with a piece of cardboard under the engine. No drips while sitting showed up. Started it up this evening and again saw the smoke and drips on the cardboard

Here are two photos one that shows the pink coolant in the tank and the second that shows the location where the light whiff of smoke comes out under the exhaust header. I would have thought if it were the water pump I'd see drips under the water pump but not smoke coming up where I put the circle.

HK770

Just a shade tree here and don't know hoses in that area. I would be concerned that head gasket to the blown to outside the problem.

Have you checked oil for water?
And the water does look pink, but mine is orange in color.

schpenxel

Yeah, coolant is orange. Power steering and transmission fluid could be red though. Or maybe it actually is coolant after all.

Aggie76

Stopped by my local Chevy dealer and spoke with one of the mechanics who's worked on their 6.2L engines, not Corvettes. Said it's not uncommon for a car sitting for six months, 4 years of winter storage, to have this. I showed him the photos I took and described what I saw/smelled. He said that they’ve had a few of the 6.2L engine water pumps where the seals flatten out under the shaft and it takes getting up to temp to reform and seal again. He suggests let the engine fully reach operating temperature and then see if there is any seepage or smoke coming out.

He confirmed that GM puts in pink Dex-Cool from factory, even showed me a 2017 Silverado in the shop with same looking color in overflow tank.

So I’m going to give that a shot tonight and see what happens. Nothing to lose in trying it at this point.

Aggie76

Well folks, I checked underneath and no indication of any drips and I looked around the engine where we had seen the light smoke and there was no indication of anything. Started it up, got the oil temp up and then drove it around town, what a wonderful feeling after a long winter, till the oil temp was over 200. Came back, parked and let it run, still no drips.

Hoping it was just the pump needing to reseat the gasket after the cold winter. Will certainly keep a close eye on the coolant level.

I feel like the boy who cried wolf but having my son-in-law see the smoke and fluid means I'm not as senile as some think. Thanks for all the suggestions. The good news is I've added a flexible mirror with LED lights to my tool box.

AORoads

Oh, man I didn't read your locale until the last post! No wonder you put it up for winter. Surprised it's out so "soon" (way south of you former Twin Cities guy here)! Glad the fix was so easy.

Aggie76

I am a bit surprised too but the temp is nice, 58 forecast today. Waiting to see how the gravel road responds before I am convinced it's back to being a daily driver.