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Started the car after it was sitting for about 5 days in the cold, but garaged. Pulled it out to move snow blower, etc. When I looked back at where the car was parked, there were 2 -6 in. diameter puddles of orange GM 5 yr. coolant. Engine sounds good, with no raspy, metal to metal screeching. Lower radiator hose looks fine as does the top. It looks wet right beneath the LS1, I tasted the wet spot and it was very sweet! This was right down the middle, on top of the fiberglass spring, beneath the engine. I'm thinking water pump. Any easy way to be sure?
Use a mirror or your hand and check under the pulley to see if that is where it is dripping. There is typically a weep hole there that will leak when the seal starts to go.
Last edited by vettenuts; Jan 25, 2016 at 08:22 AM.
Started the car after it was sitting for about 5 days in the cold, but garaged. Pulled it out to move snow blower, etc. When I looked back at where the car was parked, there were 2 -6 in. diameter puddles of orange GM 5 yr. coolant. Engine sounds good, with no raspy, metal to metal screeching. Lower radiator hose looks fine as does the top. It looks wet right beneath the LS1, I tasted the wet spot and it was very sweet! This was right down the middle, on top of the fiberglass spring, beneath the engine. I'm thinking water pump. Any easy way to be sure?
Best,
Bluemill
I did a video when I changed my water pump and showed where it had been leaking.
I couldn't stand my car bleeding coolant on my garage floor, so even though it's the middle of winter i did the pump, and thermostat fix yesterday, between blizzards. The gaskets look to have been leaking, I'd say right side, lower corner. Nurberring inspired me with the video. I got all AC parts from Rock Auto, incredible price and fast delivery. The Fed Ex guy traipsed through the snow before my plow guy came to drop off the heavy box with the pump in it. Curiously enough, the thermostat in the video was from Murray, that Nurburing got at O'Reilly's. It said " Made in Israel." My AC Delco stat also said on it, "Made in Israel," likely the same plant.
Both the old and new gaskets had the orange beads on the water holes. Hey one failed, but it lasted 15.5 years! I'm thinking the Chinese water pump will not last like the original pump. The back is just stamped with a coffee can lid while the US made original was bolted on. I'm not even sure if it failed or not, as it's hard to figure where the weep hole is.
Just have to top off the coolant tonight with some orange Kool Aide, and I'm really done.
Hope you fixed the leak.. I found this thread after finding a small crack in the coolant tank just as described above.. Just for others to reference.. Mine is a 98 with 75K miles. New tank is on the way ($80).
Can you tell me where this diagram is from so I may identify the individual hoses? Thanks!
Logo at the top shows Y Car (Corvette) May of 1998. The Service Manual didn't show the pages like that so the diagram is probably a copy of an FSM diagram but shown in some other tool. Maybe AllData.
Where's the leak, cooling system?
