Hi everyone. I hope people on here can help point me in the best direction to help determine the problem. I have a 2007 Charger Pursuit with a 5.7 with 127k miles on it. Yesterday on the way to work I noticed I had no defroster heat. Then on the way home I did get hot. I tried to shutoff and drift when I could to get home. Today I replaced the thermostat and added 2gal of coolant and even pulled the air breather plug til coolant came out. I then took it for a test drive and the temp stayed in the middle. When I got home I noticed some coolant simmering just under the front of the intake where the intake runner met the head. I then noticed some simmering in the back. I found the back of the block and the top of the transmission bell totally covered with coolant. I can not see where its coming from. I squeezed all the heater core hoses and not one hint of a leak. Its almost like the leak is directly under the intake. So my questions. Does coolant run through the intake? If so is it common for the intake to crack or leak? The leak seems to be in the back as that's where the majority of the coolant is found and then I think its migrating forward. Can anyone who has had a 5.7 leak in the same area chime in and let me know what they found and what they did to fix the issue? I know I am most likely going to have to pull the intake but I thought I would ask before I removed. Thanks for any and all help
Check the two solid black metal lines under the intake manifold. They go into the block with o rings. There is one that wraps around to the driver side of the water pump and one that goes into the back of the timing cover. That second one is not really visible unless the intake manifold is pulled off.
Trace these back to the firewall. They turn up toward the sky and meet with two rubber hoses. These are visible without removing the intake manifold.
I’m willing to bet your leak is either the o ring that seals the metal line under the intake or one of the two hoses that these metal lines connect to.
See the pictures below. The first shows the top of the motor with no intake and you can see the black metal coolant lines running front to back of the motor. The other shows where the metal lines meet at the back of the motor with their respective hoses, pointed at in red (don’t judge my drawing abilities lol).
Edit: these are the leads to the heater core lines. Do the easy part first and check them at the back before pulling the manifold but most leaks like you describe I have usually found to be the o rings.
Check the two solid black metal lines under the intake manifold. They go into the block with o rings. There is one that wraps around to the driver side of the water pump and one that goes into the back of the timing cover. That second one is not really visible unless the intake manifold is pulled off.
Trace these back to the firewall. They turn up toward the sky and meet with two rubber hoses. These are visible without removing the intake manifold.
I’m willing to bet your leak is either the o ring that seals the metal line under the intake or one of the two hoses that these metal lines connect to.
See the pictures below. The first shows the top of the motor with no intake and you can see the black metal coolant lines running front to back of the motor. The other shows where the metal lines meet at the back of the motor with their respective hoses, pointed at in red (don’t judge my drawing abilities lol).
Edit: these are the leads to the heater core lines. Do the easy part first and check them at the back before pulling the manifold but most leaks like you describe I have usually found to be the o rings.
Thank you so much as the pictures give a better perspective. I definitely agree that the tube(s) are where the coolant is coming from. I have to ask has anyone ever had these lines rust through? I can see that the front ends aren't leaking. Today I literally put my hand all around the rubber lines in the back and felt nothing wet. But when I look directly underneath back of the intake plenum. Its almost like that tube is rusted through on the p-side. I feel like pulling the plenum is a must at this point. Newoldcharger since you pulled your plenum off can you tell me the torque of the plenum bolts? Also the metal tube that comes out the front of the plenum and goes to the front to a two bolt mount. Does that gasket come in the intake set? As for the tubes. If these are purchased through Mopar do they come with the O-rings?
Bolt torque should be 9 ftlbs in an alternating sequence from the inside out.
The o rings for the metal tubes I do believe come with the tubes but I am unsure. I’ll look into part numbers for the o rings and metal tubes.
Thank you. I tried to look up the part numbers on moparts.com and they didn't show the tubes or O-rings. I looked in the engine section and in the cooling sections with no luck. As for the other tube I asked about. On the front p-side of the plenum there is a metal flexible tube that comes off and goes down to like a pump or something. Does that just pull out of the plenum or does it not and requires the two bolts to be undone to pull the plenum off? Thank you
Oh I got you now. That’s the EGR tube. Undo the two bolts that hold the tube to the EGR solenoid (the pump thing) and then the tube just pull out of the intake. There is a gasket on the part that slips into the intake (o ring style) and one when you undo the two bolts at the opposite end of the pipe. You should be able to reuse both so don’t lose them.
Coolant o ring part: 53013736AA, these are priced as one.
Mopar passenger side tube: 4892346AD (it may say it doesn’t fit your vehicle but it does, or use dorman 626-548)
Mopar driver side tube: 4892345AD (again it may say it doesn’t fit but it does, or dorman 626-547).
I want to thank you for all your helpful information. You sir were dead on. Today after work I pulled the intake off to find the p-side HVAC tube has a hole in it. The hole is roughly 6" from the turnup in the back which is why the coolant was flowing down the backside of the engine over the trans. I pulled the tube off to get a better idea of what was needed. The hole is roughly the diameter of lead in a #2 pencil. I decided to order both tubes and replace them both while I was at it. I took your Dorman part #'s for the tubes and ordered them through my Napa store as they were cheaper than going through Mopar. Ironically Dorman or Napa could cross the o-ring number so I ordered two through my Dodge dealer. The EGR tube did pull out of the intake once I pulled the two bolts off at the bottom. The bottom has a gasket but it looks in decent shape. Do you think I should replace the gasket or reuse the old one with maybe a tiny bit of Permatex high temp (orange) around it? Do you have any advice for when I swap the tubes or re-install the intake? I really appreciate your helpful advice. I just don't want to make any mistakes because I didn't ask before hand.
No particular advice. If the EGR gaskets look in good shape (no tears or anything), shouldn’t need to replace them or use any sealant.
Same goes for the intake gaskets. Make sure they look good, no signs of oil leak around the intake gaskets. Otherwise replace.
If there is no powder or lubricant on the o rings when they come, put a little coolant on them so they seat without bunching or ripping.
Best of luck putting it back together. Let me know when you get it back together.