Coolant all over the engine....
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 129
Likes: 0
From: Huntington Beach CA
Coolant all over the engine....
I was driving back from Monterey at the end of a great road trip and during the last couple of miles I noticed the temp creap up to about 210 - normally it sits at 190 constant. Anyway I was close to home so I opened the windows and turned the heater on. The temperature came down and I got home. Now I checked the engine and there was very little coolant in it and a lot of marks over the engine - it seems water has been hitting the fan and then bounced off the hood onto the engine. I've filled it up and started it up again but now there's a rattle coming from the engine and coolant is leaking from somewhere around the water pump area - I turned the engine off pretty quickly when I heard the rattle.
So to cut a long story short, I've got a leak somewhere and a rattle that rises with the engine speed. Does anyone know how I should best diagnose this? There's no water in the oil and the engine seems to run okay - good pressure etc. Should I fill her back up with coolant and restart it and try and diagnose it with the engine running or is that too risky?
I've got a 1980 C3 4sp with 107,000 miles on the original engine....
Any help would be great!
So to cut a long story short, I've got a leak somewhere and a rattle that rises with the engine speed. Does anyone know how I should best diagnose this? There's no water in the oil and the engine seems to run okay - good pressure etc. Should I fill her back up with coolant and restart it and try and diagnose it with the engine running or is that too risky?
I've got a 1980 C3 4sp with 107,000 miles on the original engine....
Any help would be great!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 5,752
Likes: 4
From: Austin Texas
Probably the water pump is shot. A quick test is to remove the water pump drive belt, start the engine and run for only long enough to hear if the rattle sound is there or not. Rattle gone = water pump. Not gone= 
G/L
G/L
Sounds like a bad waterpump 
