I was doing a checkover of a CR-V when I noticed some coolant on the bottom of the engine. It was hard to see exactly where it was coming from because it was behind the intake, but I could see a slow drip from a coolant pipe that goes from the thermostat housing to one of the heater core hoses.

After removing the intake, I could see coolant everywhere. It looked like there had to be another leak, but I think it was just the coolant dripping out of that pipe and getting blown onto the engine by the radiator fans.

At the thermostat housing the pipe is just stuck in with an O-ring, and the brackets elsewhere on the pipe hold it in place. In order to get it out I had to cut off part of the pipe so I could get enough leverage on it.

When I finally got it out I found that the area where I saw it leaking was definitely weak, because the force it took to get it out twisted that part of the pipe. Not sure why it got rusty and weak in this area, because it’s not really exposed to much.

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-Dan