newbie question regarding coolant leak

[afigurehead]

I'm trying to help a friend get his 97 S10 back on the road. The truck has a severe coolant leak that seems to flow like a river in the valley where the intake manifold is bolted on the passenger side.

I've got the feeling it is the intake manifold gasket, but does a failure of that really cause that much coolant to flow out? All the hoses that I can see are fine (these include the main big ones and the ones going to the heater core) are there any others I should look for that I can't see?

I've done some research online that wasn't all that helpful so I figured I should just ask people that would know.

Any help or insights are greatly appreciated.

[bespurcell]

I would say intake manifold gasket like you said.

[Cameo_S10]

X2 or crack in maniold...hope its the gasket.

[dt4ts3]

Yea, if the manifold gasket gives out it can seriously pump out the coolant. When my old Sierra blew the intake gasket it literally poured out like someone was dumping the bottle of coolant right on to the driveway. Be sure to check the intake and the mating serfaces for cracks or gouges though.

[dt4ts3]

When did they start using the plastic intakes? I'm not sure if they can be reused, anyone know?

[bespurcell]

Yes they can be reused.

[Jay_Pollard]

yes the plastic plenums or intakes, what ever you wanna call it, can be reused. Just throw a straight edge on them, make sure its good and flat, check for cracks as well, slam a new set of intake gaskets on it and you should be good to go.

[Memphis S10]

Yes, my 97 S10 with the 4.3LTr was doing the same thing, it took $30 for the gasket and labor to fix my problem and its running like brand new and I have better gas milage.

I musterd 280miles on 13 gallons of gas, doing mostly city and mostly highway drving. I got 20MPG.