I just found out yesterday that my car is leaking coolant on the ground. So today I drove my car on the ramp to check it out. I cannot see anything from above. Under the car when I look up, I can see coolant leaking slowly from somewhere near the oil pan. I cannot see where the coolant comes out actually though. Then it slowly drops down from where the red circle is.

And you can see there is coolant around the side of oil pan. I wipped the coolant off from the red circle, and found out the drop forms at another location: the yellow circle in the second picture.

For one night, the leakage on the ground is shown in the third picture.


The weird thing is that the leak kinda stopped then. So far, no new drops on the ground for several hours while my car is on the ramp. My car is parked a little bit downhill. So on the ramp the engine is now higher than the trunk. Don't know if this has something to do with it.

Can you guys give me some hint what might be wrong? Thanks.

 

Water pump seals.

I have the same problem as we speak.

I dont have 200-500$ to fix it right now so i just refill with coolant every weekend. Sucks.

 

did you have any chance to check the water pump, which leak under pressure?
That could be a possibility if you have high milage.

 

Thanks guys. Car is 95 with 130k. Guess I will have to have dealer check the leakage for me. Anyone has ideas about how much will the check cost?

 

Once again...everytime I read one of these post...I kick myself in the A$$ for not changing my water pump. I got the same problem.

 

Why? Its not YOUR fault.

Not really a problem, Anti-Freeze isnt expensive. Just an annoying duty.

 

Is this problem serious? I mean will the water pump just blow and my car die suddenly?

 

I dont know about dying suddenly but you would probably notice the temp gauge take residence in the upper zone which would be your warning to pull over.

I let mine run for about three weeks and kept on refilling the coolant and then just replaced it- fear of getting stranded got to me especially with the winter coming up. If you're mechanically inclined you can do it. I'd say I'm about average having replaced suspensions and stuff like that and it took me about 5.5 hrs to get it done and I took my sweet time. A shop would probably tell you about 4 hrs or something like that.

 

^^Care to write up a How-To?

...think of the .org respect increase!!!

 

Looks like you need to replace your water pump.....

 

I have a coolant leak as well right now, but my car doesn't over heat... so I'm not going to fix it as of now

 

How-to-Replace-Water-Pump

Think im going to try this by just replacing the Seals. I still think my pump is good because it still sucks up all my coolant. So it deff. might be the seals.

Good luck.

 

This is funny cuz I had this same exact problem almost a year ago and replaced the pump. It fixed the problem but it was PITA for me. But now it seems my problem has returned and coolant is leaking again. Mine was a remanufactured pump. At the time I didnt wanna buy new. $$$. I dont know how other people have had luck with remanufactured ones? Good Luck

 

I was hoping to replace the seals also but when I took the pump out the moving part was wobbling so much that I wondered how it didn't damage the timing belt. The pump replacement also fixed wobbling idler pulley also.
My car had ~140k and the pump was original.

 

i guess if you have a 4th gen and remove that aluminum cover on the side of the engine, you will be surprised at what you see staring right at you...

 

This job is a good amount of work. The best thing would be since you are already there, just replace the pump as well.

 

Funny! I think you found the write up that I used though

 

on this. This is like that whole thing with replacing the clutch if you pull your tranny- its a lot of work just to pull the pump and get it back in there, replace the entire pump.

 

WAIT!!! STOP!!!

I had this problem, same area, same recommendations. I went ahead and spent the money on a new pump, and guess what...??? IT STILL LEAKED!

You can have major problems if you let it leak, believe me. Depending on where the leak is coming from, you may ruin other engine components. My leak started as a drip and ended up springing a leaky pinhole fountain directly into my alternator (the alternator is permanently damaged). Before changing ANYTHING, I recommend cleaning the entire area and observing the leak origin with a flashlight. You may even try a blacklight. I am not sure if the coolant flouresces, but if it does, you will see it easily. Take it to a shop to pay for the diagnostic if you can't find the leak. The $80 or so test will help you decide if this is a DIY fix or not. DON'T ASSUME THAT A COOLANT LEAK IN THAT LOCATION IS CAUSED BY WATER PUMP SEAL FAILURE! I did, and I wasted a lot of time and money on it. The leak was actually coming from a faulty gasket on the outlet pipe where it meets the engine block.

 

You are right. I ment timing chain

 

Wow!! This is excellent! I am having a somewhat similar problem. I noticed my coolant tank empty few weeks ago, temp gauge seemed fine. Everything working!
Yesterday, 11/9/06, I decided to add coolant, figure I drain it out from the bottom as well while I am at it. I thought there was only going to be little bit since there wasn't any in the reservoir. I was wrong.. it drained a lot.
So, I added new coolant, started up my car and the temp went to HIGH. I shut the car off. Today, I went to start the car, it took a bit longer to warm up, temp went to HIGH, drove around the block, it went all the way HIGH, brought it back. No leakages or anything, yet. So, I don't know why this is HIGH since everything was fine before. ONly thing I did, drained it out and added more. Thats it!