Coolant leak?

When changing oil today I noticed a small chunk of dried coolant on my filter. Then looking above the filter I noticed this in the picture. What is leaking? Head gasket? The oil looked ok when drained.

 

Also, the exhaust manifold connects about an inch or two away on the drivers side

 

Bump

 

nothing is leaking

if that is near the water pump they all have weep holes
so that if some garbage does work it's way under the
seal there is a place for coolant to expand into (the outside)
and push the garbage through

pump weep holes with spots are not considered a leak until
it really leaks and drips on the floor. that doesn't look like
you have a leak, looks like something dribbled and stopped

 

The best way to figure out if you have a coolent leak is running a pressure test on the system. Make sure you check all you're hoses and check the water pump they start to leak when they go bad.

 

Is a compression test something I can do or does a shop have to do it? Thanks guys

 

If you know some one with a pump to use or if you want to buy one it is very easy to do just over pump it. The owners Manuel or the rad cap should tell you the PSI rating.

 

Are you sure it's not the freeze plug right above it? Just had to replace mine.

 

The freeze plug doesn't have any signs of a leak around it. I really don't want to sink $1000+ into a new head gasket

 

Are you loosing fluid from your coolant reservoir regularly?

Has the water pump ever been changed? How many miles do you have on the truck?

I was loosing fluid for about a year until I noticed dried coolant. The gasket that seals the water pump to the block leaks.... I noticed mine leaking at 85K miles and changed the water pump. But like I said, it was leaking slightly (evaporating) for a year until I found where/how I was loosing fluid.

If you have a 3.4L....this might interest you:
http://www.lieblweb.com/waterpump.html

 

My reservoir looks to be normal. The water pump was changed along with timing belt at 103k and right now I'm at 171k.

When I posted this, I scraped off all of the dried coolant right above the oil filter. After 1,000 miles, I can see it seeping at little bit again. Where was yours leaking at? Did you have other symptoms? Man, this would be a huge relief if it wasn't head gasket. I'm near due for timing belt, water pump, etc so that would be routine maintenance anyways.

 

Do you have a wider picture of the engine bay? It's hard to see where that is.... After looking at it again, looks like its coming out from between two metal surfaces. Doesn't look like a gradual drip from another location.

Have you checked your Oil recently? Does it look OK? Not milky....

My water pump leak didn't cause other symptoms. My reservoir tank had been loosing fluid every month for a year before I could see any visible signs of a leak (dripping on the ground). I just kept topping it off until I could figure it out. It was the gasket material that failed. The gasket material is around the entire water pump and depending on where it fails, will depend on where it'll seep/drip.

 

The spot is tough to get pictures, it's a tight space. The location is basically a couple inches above the oil filter on the 04 drivers side. The oil looks fine, I checked yesterday. And you're right, it's where two metal surfaces connect. I'd hate to get a head gasket replaced if it were the water pump gone bad.

 

Changed my oil yesterday and found the same thing, did you ever figure out what it was? Oil was clean and truck runs fine and never overheats, just bought it with 155xxx as I am new to the group, any help would be appreciated!