Leaking Coolant

[larryd]

I have a coolant leak that appears to be on the backside of the engine. I would just put the car on jack stands and search for this leak BUT its random. It has only happened 2x and each time ive brought the car home to look at it its stopped. My question is how is it possible to have a coolant leak thats not all the time??

 

[candela]

Could just be heat and pressure build up and that is when you have the leak. There really isnt much to finding coolant leaks. If you did your motor, which I thinkg you did, you should know all the coolant lines on the car. i do, and it has always been easy for me to just check all the lines/connections and I always find them.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

If its on the backside check you TB coolant lines. I had a problem when I switched to a 1G TB where I didn't shorten 1 of the lines. It had a kink so no coolant would leak while driving but after being stopped for a while and the pressure built it would leak out.

 

[98TsiAWD]

Does yoru car have a block heater? I had a leak on mine on my old car.

 

[larryd]

no no block heater.. Wes was telling me that its possible that I could have a small pin hole in one of the lines that only leaks when the pressure is right so its quite possible to only leak sometimes. Thats what makes it hard to find, the simple fact that it doesnt happen all the time.

I guess thats a good thing though cuz if it happened all the time the the head gasket could be an issue, since its random the haed gasket should be fine.

 

[candela]

Thats what I was saying when i said about temp and pressure. My last leak only happened after like 30min of freeway driving. it took me a whiule to even notice as all the leaking was going on the freeway and not on my driveway...

 

[KenTSIII]

Could also be a clamp that's not quite sealing. Hell the only coolant lines on the backside of the motor are the heater core lines & the throttle body lines (which I removed & bypassed). If those lines are questionable at all.. just replaced them.. they're like $10 each for the heater core lines & $1 for the TB lines.

 

[larryd]

its just hard to see.. when it has happened I cant figure uot where it comes from.. Ive stood over the engine bay with a flashlight and cant find the leak to save my life but I can see smoke as in burning coolant coming up from right over the tranny area by the block. So I know its in that general area.

 

[SMI]

I would agree with Ken, just replace the TB and heater core hoses. They are pretty cheap, and its a good idea to replace them every so often anyways.

 

[Violater101]

Yeah, my money is on the TB lines Larry. I noticed I was dripping some water, but dont know how since Im not running the A/C. Would I still have condensation if the AC fan kicks on, but not the "AC" itself? Its coming from where the AC would normally drip at.

 

[candela]

Thats whre mine was larry. I kept finding coolant on top of my bell housing but no leaks. Then I just did a quick over all my coolant hoses and found a tiny little crack in thehose that goes from where the lower water pipe wraps around the motor to just near the TB. I cant think of it off the top of my head but its right above the tranny. Just check out all lines thouroughly and youll get it

 

[larryd]

hmmm ok.. Ill have to follow the line down and see if I can find anything.

 

[Zerocygnal]

On that subject...
Mine does the same thing..only it is coming from behind the timing cover. I'm thinking it's the waterpump gasket...it leaks only a few drips on the first cold start...after that it's fine. Is there anything else under the timing cover that would leak coolant? I know some waterpumps have hoses attached to them..
I was supposed to swap the gasket this weekend but instead my wife had our baby::grin::
So..maybe next week or the week after..