1994 Astro LT coolant leak

This is my DD and sorry to impose.Having a hard time finding a coolant on the front of the 4.3 v6.It's coming from the driver's side front of the engine and I took off the top of the shroud and cleaned the heck out of the area around the intake and front of it.The drive brackets for the belt makes it real hard to see the front expansion/soft plugs.I think it is coming from there,but can't really confirm that.To go threw and remove those brackets is a real pain.Sooooooo,I was going to tomorrow buy from Autozone a dye tracer kit and UV flashlight.Question here is how long can I leave the dye in there while I get the repair parts and what effect will it have on the thermostat and temp sensors??.

I really don't want to presser test it because I fear it would make the leak worse to the extent where I couldn't drive it to the parts store to get the repair parts.

Please and Thank You,

Gary

Oh it is a "W" code 4.3

The dye won't hurt anything in the cooling system. You will be emptying the radiator to fix the problems anyway so most of it will be in a bucket on the floor.
Another way to maybe find this leak is to park the van on a clean piece of cardboard, a piece big enough to cover most of the under the motor. Then just leave the van sit there over nite. In the morning you will see a wet spot. Now just get under there and look up and trace where the wet is coming from.

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Originally Posted by sunsetdart

The dye won't hurt anything in the cooling system. You will be emptying the radiator to fix the problems anyway so most of it will be in a bucket on the floor.
Another way to maybe find this leak is to park the van on a clean piece of cardboard, a piece big enough to cover most of the under the motor. Then just leave the van sit there over nite. In the morning you will see a wet spot. Now just get under there and look up and trace where the wet is coming from.

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Thanks for that.I do know it is from the driver's side front it is more a question of where.Either the w/p or soft plugs is a lot of work to get it done and I sure don't want to just throw parts at it and not fix the issue.Still I guess you said to use the dye kit to trace it wouldn't cause any farther problems to the coolant system sensors,etc.

You could take a chance and buy a few parts then pull the brackets to see where it is coming from. Return the parts you do not need when done.