Originally posted by Tone
As I posted above, there is an oring prone to leaking behind the water manifold (the metal 'splitter') that the uppoer radiator hose feeds into. There is a gasket and oring there that I have had both leak and the oring leak is the haredest to find but looking at it while having someone start and stop the engine will usually let you see the small stream.

The intake manifold MUST come off to replace the thermostat, gasket, knock sensor or other water lines that live under there. Intake gaskets should be replaced if doing that even though they were designed to be reused, they fail easily.
Looks like you might be on the money on this one Tone. They're telling me it's a water hose that needs replacement which happens to be located underneath the intake manifold as you said. Now, they're quoting me around $800 to do everything. I did some research on the CD manual but couldn't tell if the location of the water hose was underneath the manifold or not by the illustration shown.

What I don't fully understand is that they're claiming a hose under the manifold that's causing the leak (which I would assume would be not as apparent) than from what I actually saw which was coolant hissing out near the top/back area of the water pump like what you've described.

Anyway, from what you've described, it sounds like a day or two job to do and since it's part of the cooling system, it's NOT under warranty. Believe me, I had an long debate with an Isuzu rep at the HQ about this one.

My question now is, is this the kind of job that I should take to a neighborhood mechanic to see if they can do it for less? Or should I just let the dealership take my money and run?

Thanks in advance for any input whatsoever.