help, far from home with big coolant leak

[high-psi-tsi]

Hey,
I'm stranded in philadelphia with one hell of a coolant leak. Its coming from the drivers side of the motor and it just pours out when the motor is running and heated up (it has to be heated up before it leaks). I'm praying its not the water pump. Is there anything else on that side of teh motor that could cause a coolant leak like this. Is there anythign I should check for. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[my_gst95]

You have a 90 so the only coolant output/input on the driverside is the waterpump. If it isn't the waterpump itself or its gasket, then it could be the o-ring going to the waterpipe. But if the waterpump hasn't been replaced in the last 70k miles (and especially if it's pooring out when you start the car) my money is on waterpump & gasket replacement.

my_gst95

 

[high-psi-tsi]

The pump was changed 10k miles ago, however the guy who replaced it used a POS advanced auto pump. Where is this water pipe u speak of?

 

[blackGSX2g]

The water pipe goes underneath the header and has an o-ring seal where it meets the output of the water pump.

 

[my_gst95]

(Beat me to the Reply button...)

It's the waterpipe that connects to the thermostat housing, runs behind the turbo, and connects to the waterpipe, just under the power steering.

my_gst95

 

[90CherryTSI]

Same thing just happened to me last weekend. I was up in Dallas and noticed a big time coolant leak. Removed the driver's side engine mount, power steering pump, all the belts and put a coolant system pressure tested on the car. My big leak was because the top bolt for the water pump had come loose. I had to loosen the lower timing belt cover also to get a socket to fit down there but when I tried to tighten it, immediately I felt it was loose. To check the O-ring you definitely have to remove the power steering pump at the very least, along with the bracket that holds it on. If you have a jack and socket sizes 8-20mm you can do all the work yourself...if you know what you're doing good luck!

 

[gsxtacy]

hey what about the oil cooler its on the driver side and could've gotten punctured. Theres more possibilities than just the water pump or water cross pipe.

gsxtacy

 

[my_gst95]

You have a 90 so the only coolant output/input on the driverside is the waterpump

The 90's oil cooler is not coolant cooled, it's air cooled. No nipple goes from the waterpipe to the cooler on a 89-90 like it does on 91-99's.

my_gst95

 

[blackGSX2g]

Exactly, Mistsu should have kept the air cooled oil cooler goin...the only other thing I could think of towards the driver side is maybe a freeze plug. It could be leaking on a corner that could cause it to spray towards the driver side. Just a guess, I'd be willing to bet its water pump related though.