leaking coolant
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 3,842
Likes: 230
From: SANTA CRUZ CA
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,660
Likes: 22
if the engine bay is dirty, wet, park over a piece of cardboard to you can get some idea of where to look...water pump as others have said, or one of the many heater hoses hidden under something.
Whatever it is, DO NOT use stop leak unless you are stranded in the middle of the dessert and HAVE to drive the thing to safety.......A $5 bottle of stop leak will cost you between $500 & $1000 to repair/replace the damage it causes.
Whatever it is, DO NOT use stop leak unless you are stranded in the middle of the dessert and HAVE to drive the thing to safety.......A $5 bottle of stop leak will cost you between $500 & $1000 to repair/replace the damage it causes.
Pro
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 604
Likes: 1
From: LaSalle Ontario
I had a coolant leak and after running the engine I found it hard to look for anything due to the engine being so hot and if you try to leave the car running you have to look out for the belt and moving parts.
My neighbor let me use his rad pressure tester and all I had to do is attach it to the rad reservoir and attach the compressor to the other end and apply about 18psi and I was able to look around the top and bottom and found where my leak was. So much easier and allot cooler to move things around when the engine is cold, and allot safer without it running!
You might be able to borrow one from autozone or a friend.
Good luck!
My neighbor let me use his rad pressure tester and all I had to do is attach it to the rad reservoir and attach the compressor to the other end and apply about 18psi and I was able to look around the top and bottom and found where my leak was. So much easier and allot cooler to move things around when the engine is cold, and allot safer without it running!
You might be able to borrow one from autozone or a friend.
Good luck!
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 52
Likes: 0
From: New Berlin NY
leak found
well , i dont know if this is good or bad, got it up on ramps, did not start the car, and still really could only see it was dripping from the front drivers side corner of the block, so we pull the water pump and the bolts on the drivers side od the pump had hardly any tightness to them, could almost have hand turned them out, so we have decided it has just blown out the gasket on the drivers side. the passenger side gasket looks much different than the drivers side(clean). so, with 140k on the car, and it prob not the water pump, we are going to put a new one on anyway, along with a new sensor. so i bouth this car 4 moths ago, and have found out it has not been driven much the last 6 years. do you think the bolts loosened maybe due to a vibration (none apparent) or from sitting so long without being driven, and now being driven on average 120 miles a week, did do a 350 mile trip the weekend before the leak became apparent, with no issues.
also what id the fill and purge procedure to the air out of it once i refill
it. thanks for the help gents !
also what id the fill and purge procedure to the air out of it once i refill
it. thanks for the help gents !
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 3,842
Likes: 230
From: SANTA CRUZ CA
Originally Posted by mad mohawk
.......what is the fill and purge procedure....
replace cap.. done.
Yes, I've read horrible bubble stories, and I'm aware there are bleed screws, but just relax, and everything will be fine.
Check that the overflow bottle level increases when 'hot', and lowers during cool-down. If the level doesn't lower from the hot level when the engine is cold, the siphon is not working, which means there is a breach in the cooling system allowing air to enter. Check for loose or split hose ends, cap gasket deformed, etc.
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