ok so i got my car last summer from my aunt and i noticed it had a very slight coolant leak. i mean a very slow drip so i never really bothered to look into it. I drove the car all last summer, no probs. This last winter it must have gotten worse and now its pretty bad. its to the point where i need to put in about a gallon of water per week.

So what i know: its radiator/coolant fluid thats leaking but its not from the radiator. i got under the car and its coming from somewhere behind the oil pan. it might be from the air conditioner but couldnt see exactly where its coming from.

so i was just wondering if anyone had any input or ideas, im gonna take it in later this week to a mechanic (but i really dont want to if i dont have to) since i dont really have any means to jack the car up high enough to really take things apart to get at the leak.

 

Replace the water pump.

 

yea water pump is screwed and its no easy thing to accomplish you have to remove the oil pan and timing cover and the crank pulley, it will be the gear closest to the crank gear and will comes off with 3 10mm bolts if you plan on having a shop do it its gonna cost some big bucks if they go over 600 dollars screw them and just buy a rebuilt or low mileage motor for the same price and throw a whole new motor in your car, and yes im serious

 

is the water pump something i could do myself? how much does a new water pump cost?

edit: i found the how-to (water pump) but is this something i could do myself? i have plenty of tools so that shouldnt be a problem but like i said earlier i cant really get under the car any better than just raising the front with jackstands

 

before u jump on changing the water pump which shops will charge u an arm and a leg and a gallon of gas for, check the upper radiator hose, its right near the grill/driver's side. if it looks old and cracked, it may be the culprit.

last time I got some coolant leaking near my oil pan it was because the upper hose was leaking and leading it down near the oil pan area.

shop charged me 20 bucks for labor+ top off coolant. something you can do on your own, but for 20 bucks you'll save the trouble.

 

i followed all the hoses from the radiator as far as i could see with out taking things apart and what i saw all looked good

 

that sucks to bad its not simple. As far as a DIY thing, its not hard just take your time and keep all your bolts organized. its the most important thing when taking the timing cover off.

 

ya im thinking im gonna take it apart following the water pump how to then see if its the water pump for sure. if it is ill replace it myself

 

Please quit listening to these tool bags blindly guessing and assuming its the water pump. A bad pump will not create a leak on the left bank of the motor. If the pump is dead you'll be overheating. If the pump is leaking into the timing chain cover then you'll have coolant in your oil or vice versa. Are either of these true?

In your first post you said it seemed like it was coming from behind the oil pan. Do you still think this is true? I'd be glad to take a look some time. My first guess from your rough estimate of the location is the EGR or TB coolant lines.

 

allrighty then, first off your coolant is supposed to be 50/50 and not all water. my 95 sprung a leak recently and the dealer and my radiator guy said its ok, just keep my eyes on the level and the leak. i think you might have a similar problem, i found out its the coolant bypass tube thats the problem on my car. look on top of your tranny housing, if its leaking you'll be able to see it on top of there with a small flex flashlight. face the block, and look in front of the block and below the valve cover. have your mechanic check the water pump area as well, could.nt hurt. make sure your radiator fluid is bright green and full on the overflow tank. good luck

 

tool bag? yet youre still throwing out suggestions youreself which means youre doing the same as every one else is which makes you a hypocritical tool bag. now onto the problem at hand have you checked by the firewall for any coolant leeaking from there but as always pictures would help cauce it could be anything

 

Actually that depends on the type of fluid he's got in the system now. i recently switched to Nissan Long Life coolant with excellent improvement results. It is dark green in colour. The stuff someone put in my car before i got it looked bright green/florescent which is not good for our cars as some members here claim the amount of silicone and some other chemicals harm the system.

 

There is TONS of misinformation in this thread, the entire timing cover and oil pan does NOT need to come off.

Sorry but for the most part you are very wrong Broaner, there is an o-ring for water, than a center section with a weep hole (normally never sees coolant, if it does it drains out near the oil pan), then the o-ring for the oil side of things, there is also a seal of some sorts around the bearing/impeller shaft, if that one leaks yes you will get oil in coolant and vice versa, and the bearing will fail quickly, but if just the outer o-ring leaks you will only get a leak from the bottom of the timing chain cover/upper oil-pan area. Waterpump is the likely culprit, the front o-ring is prone to leak, however obviously you should make a quick inspection of any other possible causes. I do beleive that the stickies should be read and this thread should be

 

i was told by a guy who does radiators only that the long life stuff is a crapshoot. i asked him why and he said the long life stuff was'nt around when car was made, so it was made to run on reg. antifreeze fluid, not the long life stuff. i really think your taking your chances with that or anything that they say will improve your car's performance when the cars manual says reg. antifreeze only. just my 2 cents worth......

 

really the only good stuff to retrofit the green antifreeze with is the toyota pink antifreeze it has the best properties of all antifreezes and last the longest over any thing else on the market. the pink antifreeze does no harm to aluminum/iron blocks/heads and does not build up corrosion overtime unlike the green stuff