External Coolant leak....But where from?

[fastfive0]

OK, so i have a HUGE external coolant leak. Soon as I fill her up with coolant and turn the car on,she leaks it all out. I was told by one of my mechanics that worked on my car previously that it is the metal coolant line that runs behind the turbo and is connected to the pump and block. SOooooooo, I take the exhaust mani off and the metal pipe seems to be in good shape. When the car is running, coolant will spray under the hood off of the timing belt if i take the cover off the pulley's. I'm thinking the water pump is leaking,but doesnt the weep hole on the pump drain the water away from the timing belt? Once you shut the car off you can here like a whistling noise from the pump/alternator area for a couple minutes. Almost sounds like a huge vacuum leak. Chances of the water pump gasket leaking that much coolant? I really dont want to have to replace the pump, it looks to be quite a job. Any help?

 

[BUCK]

Man that could be the ORIGINAL W/P - & yes it is a big job - You are crazy if you don't do a full T/belt & Tensioner assembly changeout while you are in there.

 

[fastfive0]

Well the mechanic that told me the pipe was leaking already replaced my timing belt and water pump last year.

 

[G-Ell]

Guessing he probably didn't put a small amount of high temp RTV on both sides of the gasket when the water pump was replaced or tighten the water pump bolts to spec. At this point, it's a good idea to replace that gasket.

 

[mitsutuner]

Did you check the small coolant hoses that attach to the oil cooler at the base of the oil filter--short hoses that coonect to metal pipes that go over near the thermostat housing to which they are joined with more small rubber hoses.
This coolant supply is used to cool the motor oil, mitsu actually recieved an award for the clever engineering of this type of oil cooler, but personally I think it is a big mistake---because rubber hoses wear out, cooling system fails & takes out the oil cooler with it---double jeopardy!!!

 

[fastfive0]

Yeah but if it were these hoses, would the coolant get up on the timing belt and alternator? Cause my alternator has coolant on it. What is the going rate for a Water pump replacement?

 

[1992LaserRSAWD]

a national chain shop wanted to charge me $500 to change my water pump. I did it myself in under a day and spent about $150 in parts and that included all the timing components. Because on mine when the water pump leaked out of the weap hole it dripped right on to my timing tensioner and caused my timing to become loose which we all know can cause serious problems.

 

[xcelr8n]

could be a hose for all you know.
go get it pressure tested and find out forsure, wouldnt you be pissed if you did all that work and found out it was a hose!
i thouyght i blew my water pump or head gasket badly, was at a light and my car was billowing white smoke, im like dear god my hg is gone!
turned out to be a heater core hose, good thing it cost me 4 dollars to fix, so go get it tested