Posted by David Sherman on Monday, February 13, 2006 at 0:06AM :
In Reply to: coolant leaks posted by Bill McCaulley on Sunday, February 12, 2006 at 6:59PM :
It's less serious than even a blown head gasket. Leaks around manifold studs are common. Most of the manifold studs go into the water jacket. You can probably take out one bolt at a time, clean it, clean the hole, dope it up with sealer, put it back in, and torque it down without having to remove the whole manifold. I have successfully used brush-on teflon pipe dope and permatex #2. Blue silicone RTV isn't reliable for this. Be sure to get the stud in all the way so the threads cinch up tight before putting the nut on. An acorn nut is a handy way of tightening the stud in, if you have one that fits, or you can jam two regular nuts together. Ideally, you should use brass nuts on the manifold studs to keep them from loosening.
You will need to drain some of the coolant out to keep it from running out of the holes.