Chrysler Repair: 1996 2.5 V-6 COOLING SYSTEM LEAK in channel, head gasket leak, manual roland

Question
MY HAS A COOLANT LEAK, WE RAISED THE PASSENGER SIDE UP TO WORK ON THE WATER PUMP AND REPLACE TIMING BELT AT THE SAME TIME. MY HUBBY WANTED TO SEE WHERE THE LEAK WAS, BEFORE ACTUALLY REPLACING WATER PUMP AND TIMING BELT. WE HAD ALREADY PURCHASED. WITH PASSENGER SIDE LIFTED, WATER RAN OUT THE DRIVER SIDE. WE REMOVED 2 PIECE INTAKE MANIFOLD AND SAW ENGINE VALLEY FULL OF WATER. A WATER PUMP HOUSING PIPE SHOWED THAT MAYBE IT HAS A LEAK. I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO VERIFY.

Answer
Hi Milena,
I don't know if you have a drawing that shows the coolant manifold at the rear of the engine but, if not, it has a hole into which the other end of the long pipe fits with an o-ring seal, just like the seal at the water pump end of the pipe. It could be that there is a leak at that rear seal or even the O-ring at the front end could have been leaking. Those O-rings due to tend fail in similar engine designs so they are the most likely source of leakage in the channel between the two cylinder banks.
It could also, of course be a leak from the head gasket on either side bank of cylinders into that channel so I would inspect to see if there is any evidence of water leaking out the seams between the cylinderheads and the blocks. A symptom of a head gasket leak would have been cloudy/foamy oil in the crankcase or excessively long time white smoke coming out the tail pipe when you first started the car from cold, or rapid pressurization of the cooling system with bubbling sounds, again very soon after starting the engine. If you didn't have any of those symptoms then I suspect that you simply need to put a new O-ring on both the front and the rear end of the water pump long pipe.
You can inspect the pipe as well for any sign of perforation or cracking.
I hope this is helpful. If you would like a drawing which shows the pipe that is involved let me know and I will xerox and postal mail you that from the service manual.
Roland