I drove for about 20 minutes, then parked for about an hour last night. When I got back in the car and started driving, the temp needle started steadily climbing. I parked again for about an hour and came back out to look under the hood.

There was coolant all over the place. I saw that it had even come out the front of the hood and run back over the hood as I was driving. The thing is, I couldn't find any obvious place that it came from. All the hoses seemed intact. Nothing was obviously dripping from anywhere.

I got some water and filled the radiator and overflow tank. Then I started the car and watched. Nothing. I couldn't see anything wrong.

So, I got back in and drove 20 minutes home. Checked under the hood then...still nothing.

I looked when I got out and started the car this morning. There's no evidence of any more leaking.

So WTF? Anyone have any ideas?

 

Last time I had a mystery coolant leak it ended up being the upper hose (one closest to the battery)... it was leaking at the block side of the hose, not the radiator side. It leaked a LOT one day, all over the drive way, and then all of a sudden stopped on its own for a couple days so I couldn't find it. It finally started weeping some more out, and I caught it. The metal clamp (however tight) was apparently not tight enough... I tightened it down more and the leak stopped.

 

Well, my hoses are original (10 years old) so I should replace them anyway...

 

water pump?

 

Do you smell a sweet smell in the engine bay when the engine is warm?

After thinking about it a bit, it could just be a faulty thermostat. You probably didn't notice the car getting hot when you parked it and saw fluid on the ground.

 

I replaced the thermostat last year.

Coolant was all over the place, on the engine, on the underside of the hood, etc...

It's still fine so far

 

I'd guess upper/lower hose also. Only thing what would spray that much coolant. Or maybe a leak in the radiator? Coolant overflow bottle? One of the heator core hoses?

 

If you don't think it came from the reserve tank, it may well be the hoses. Make sure you look at the radiator closely for leaks also. If that thermostat is bad, your cooliing system will build enough pressure to blow fluid all over the place under the hood.

 

This may be the problem.

I had several occasions with unexplained coolant leaks - although not as bad as you describe - before the water pump went.

I ultimately learned that the water pump will weep (somehow) before it completely fails and that it can vary from time to time.

 

Well, I'm going to put the car up on a lift after work and check everything out. I'll be sure and double check all the hoses and both ends of the radiator.

 

I once had a small hole in a small hose in my Nissan truck. It emptied the radiator very quickly and sprayed the coolant everywhere.

My wife 96 SE acted up one day and wouldn't run etc. Found out the radiator had a big hole, as well as back O2 and EGR valve. I had not noticed the coolant leak at the house. Maybe the dealership was BSing me.

 

The top tank of my radioator is cracked

I actually saw the coolant spewing out of it last night.

 

Might try some epoxy/liquid nails etc for a temp fix

 

I already ordered a new rad. $100 shipped

I'll give the epoxy a shot though for a temp solution, nothing to lose.

 

Could it be a Bad Water pump? Do you get a lot of white smoke out of your exhaust?

 

http://doug.maxima.org/showpost.php?...2&postcount=12

 

My bad, I did not read that.

 

I used epoxy on mine for a quick fix once. It worked well. I drove from Austin to Dallas and back about 6 hours of driving with no problems. Just make sure you clean/prep the area to be epoxied well.

 

My buddies car is also leaking coolant. 160k miles, no traces tho? The oil pan is wet around the edges with coolant, but everything above it is dry. What could that be? And it doesnt seem to be leaking out of the oil pan, as it its coolant and only coolant.

Also if you are burning coolant, what color is the exhaust smoke?

 

White, with a sweet smell.

 

Could be the water pump. If you are burning coolant the smoke will be white and smell sweet.

 

Oh man, I think he is about ready to drive that car off the cliff, he just replaced the starter and couldn't drive his car for 2 weeks. So is that a bad headgasket(s) if you are burning coolant?

 

Check the large hose at the very top of the motor, I couldnt see the hole in my it was like 1cm big but it was enough to spray most of the hot fluid all over the engine bay. Also make sure the radiator filler area isnt cracked, could proof the same issues.

 

Not too sure what it is at this point. He is bringing to my neighbors to have a leak down test or something like that. How much do they charge for a waterpump replacement?