Uh oh Coolant drippin

Cbussilver01es · Post by **Cbussilver01es** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 11:57 am

Hey all I gotta quick question and need some help. I some how have a little bit of coolant dripping down and I cant tell where it's coming from. The car runs fine and isnt having any cooling problems or problems performance wise. Headgasket is fine, compression check confirmed that, as far as I can tell there are no leaks in the bottle, heater lines, radiator or by the belts. Each time I go out to check, it seems to be drippin off my oil pan on to the concrete, but I cant tell from where. Its not a mix of colors or anything, just straight green. Any ideas where it could be coming from?

Panhead · Post by **Panhead** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 12:29 pm

coming from the front or the rear of the engine?

Arro · Post by **Arro** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 12:35 pm

You could have a head gasket leak, and your compression check wouldn't show it, if the leak is from a coolant passage to the outside, and not to the cyllinder. Also, some head gasket breaches don't show unless the engine is hot, because the gasket expands a little.

A coolant pressure tester would be able to determine that... you replace the radiator cap with the connector for the tester, and then pump it up. There's a pressure gauge on it. Check it after an hour, and see if the pressure drops. If it does, then you have a leak.

Post by **occasional demons** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 12:43 pm

Wow, that's a tough one. The only thing I can suggest is getting the additive that lets you use a black light to see where it may be comming from. most parts stores carry it though I don't recall the name I've used it to find oil leaks though. the only thing is you have to start looking when it's added otherwise it will be all over.
A pressure tester would help too. might find it wit the pressure tester alone. But if you use the dye the use the tester to find where it is instead of trying to find it while the motor is running. Wouldn't want you to get caught in a belt.
Edit: Damn, arro beat me to it I type too slow!

Cbussilver01es · Post by **Cbussilver01es** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 12:48 pm

03neonSE wrote:coming from the front or the rear of the engine?

the front closer to the radiator, I got up and under and looked around a lil bit and its hard to tell where exactly its at.

latief · Post by **latief** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 12:48 pm

My car leaked like that once, ended up needing a new water pump.....

how many miles on yours?

mine was leaking from the passenger side of the engine

Cbussilver01es · Post by **Cbussilver01es** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 1:04 pm

latief wrote:My car leaked like that once, ended up needing a new water pump.....

how many miles on yours?

mine was leaking from the passenger side of the engine

I couldnt tell you how many miles are on it since the motor in it isnt the original motor. It just started happening a couple days ago.

kplaya186 · Post by **kplaya186** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 1:12 pm

Cbussilver01es wrote:
latief wrote:My car leaked like that once, ended up needing a new water pump.....

how many miles on yours?

mine was leaking from the passenger side of the engine
I couldnt tell you how many miles are on it since the motor in it isnt the original motor. It just started happening a couple days ago.

It is possible that whoever installed the new engine didn't use the correct sealants or even high quality gaskets. I would first check to see if you can find the leak, look at all the connections from the radiator to the engine. Possibly someone didn't torque a bolt all the way down too.

Cbussilver01es · Post by **Cbussilver01es** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 1:38 pm

kplaya186 wrote:It is possible that whoever installed the new engine didn't use the correct sealants or even high quality gaskets. I would first check to see if you can find the leak, look at all the connections from the radiator to the engine. Possibly someone didn't torque a bolt all the way down too.

Now wouldn't it have shown itself earlier when I had the motor installed?

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 4:28 pm

maybe it is the water pump, you could always check it

Which is oh so easy to do

Sorry man, all I can think of... another thing you could check which is easiest is the coolant/heater lines? I think they are the ones running under the intake mani and along side the driver side compartment up top. They are plastic and rubber, and could have busted a little if bent. Sorry man!

Cbussilver01es · Post by **Cbussilver01es** » Fri Sep 14, 2007 8:16 pm

I hope it isnt the pump, Its not a lot of coolant thats leaking, its only like a few drops, I let the car warm up and looked to see if anything was leaking anywhere and there wasnt so idk

Now with the heater line i couldnt see anything dripping

so I really dont know where it could b coming from.

Cbussilver01es · Post by **Cbussilver01es** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 8:17 pm

UPDATE: After a driving around a lil bit and then parking my car, I came back out to see even more coolant dripping, Now the weird thing is that my car isnt overheating, my heat works just fine. The coolant doesnt have oil mixed in or anything.

I just cant figure it out, now I took a flashlight and looked and saw where it was dripping from and it looks to be dripping from somewhere almost directly below the thermostat housing. I dont know what else to do, or what could be causing it to leak.