will i have happiness in this life or not? well, apparently not because i just barely got some extra $250 dollars in my wallet for some mods and what do you know... my coolant started dripping... well, today i drove my girlfriend home in the morning becuase she stayed over ( this was the only source of happiness) and parked my car in the garage. later on, i come back and pull the car out to sweep the floor and voila!!! a coolant streak right down the middle of the floor. right away i climb under the car to see WTF is going on now, but i see no traces of a damaged radiator or hoses... where the F$%K is it leaking from. i just refilled the radiator and reservoir with coolant and put my car in the garage again to see if it keeps dripping....why, why me???

 

Don't worry man... you overfilled the reservoir..... and the radiator is pushing it out.. Keep an eye on it for a few days and it should stop....let me add this...it could be your water pump also

 

Make sure you wipe any spillage off metal surfaces because antifreeze doesn't evaporate.

 

It's what I like to call "Baby needs a change".


I would say Water pump needs to be replaced.

 

i do not see what my pump has anything to do with it... hmm...

 

How many miles on the car? I wouldn't think the water pump on a 2000 Maxima would require changing so soon.

 

If you will get this everytime the car is parked and you see some antifreeze there then it's possibly the water pump but maybe you spilled it and that's all.

 

58425 miles and i do not even know why you guys started blaming the pump for it? the radiator is a little wet on the bottom, that's about it, i see no other traces of a leak. well, anyways, i will pull it out on tuesday and spill JB Weld over suspicious areas....

 

I doubt it's the water pump. But it can be checked when the car is cold. According to the Haynes manual:

1. Water pumps are equipped with weep (or vent) holes. If a failure occurs in the pump seal, coolant will leak from the hole. The weep hole directs coolant out from between the timing chain cover and the engine block. Is this wear the dripping is coming from?

2. If the water pump shaft bearings fail, there may be a howling sound at the pump while it's running. Shaft wear can be felt by relieving the main timing chain tension and removing the water pump access cover from the front timing cover, then rock the water pump sprocket up and down to detect shaft wear. You don't have these symptoms do you?

What confuses me is that the spillage occurred prior to you filling the radiator and the reservoir, did it not?

 

yes, when i noticed that it leaks, i had to undo the radiator cap and added about 3 cups of coolant until it was full, the reservoir aws entirely empty.

 

also, there are no leaks on the engine block or neighboring areas, just the radiator bottom part.

 

just checked back with the car a few minute ago and it does keep dripping coolant VERY SLOWLY. i climber under it with a flashlight and did a more thorough inspection and still did not find any cracks on the radiator. grrrr.

 

Is the drain plug on the radiator tightened?

 

hmm, i'll check tommorow, but i have never touched it, so there shouldn't be a reason for it to be undone...

 

It would be unusual for it to leak that much if it was the water pump. However, the water pump will leak for quite a while and it is almost impossible to see where it is coming from.

I would have a shop take a look at it up on a lift.

If it is the water pump - that is an expensive repair. What I would watch for is complete pump failure.

 

Could be one of the end caps on the radiator going bad.