[V8] Disappearing coolant line

[Mark Kalbskopf]

I'd been losing coolant very slowly and needed to top up every month  
or so with no apparent leak, but Wednesday it started coming out  
quite fast.
So as I needed to the steering damper anyway, I started dismantling.

Examining the back of the engine, I see that it was coming from a  
very short hose (about 3" long) underneath the airfilter box. This  
hose  joins 2 metal pipes that go to the heater, the expansion tank  
and the other side of the engine.
The hose is a real pain to get at but here's the strange voodoo part  
that I'm worried about.
On the engine side, the hose connects to a steal pipe that disappears  
under the inlet manifold and ends up hidden somewhere near the front  
of the engine.
This whole pipe comes loose, (at least it does if you take off the  
two bolts that attach it to the block. Probably a bad move I know!)
Of course you can't take it out. It's way too long. But what on earth  
does it go into at the other end? Or, more to the point, how on earth  
does it make a water tight seal if I'm just pushing it back in, kinda  
blind?

Where's the coolant expert?  Don't say I have to disassemble the  
front of the engine too?

Mark.

PS. You know, if the engine was out of the car, all this nonsense  
would be so easy!!!