Strange Coolant Leak

agro1 · #1 (**permalink**) 11-12-2002, 09:35 AM

Went for an hour long drive last night. No thrashing, just mellow cruising. Backed the car into the driveway and shut 'er off. Noticed a small amount of coolant under the car after I started it back up and went to move it into the garage - Water temp started to climb a bit and then leveled off at normal temp...There was a bit of coolant around the motor over by the water pump but I could not see any leaks or where it could have come from... I let it cool down then started it back up and let it idle for a bit - Water temp fine...Any ideas ?

Mr.Fixit · #2 (**permalink**) 11-12-2002, 10:03 AM

Tighten your hose clamps. After some drive time, new hoses can compress a little, just make sure they're snug.

Ron61 · #3 (**permalink**) 11-12-2002, 10:06 AM

Argo,

Could it possibly be a hose that the clamp has loosened a little on. Also check around the thermostat housing. I had a leak on my stroker that I hunted for a year and it would just have one drop on the right side of the bottom of the block. After changing thermostat housings and a hundred other things I found out that one of my intake bolts had backed off 2 pounds from the torque settings. I retorqued them and have never had a drop leak since. Now I just check all the torque settings on a regular basis and it is amazing at how the aluminum intake to aluminum heads can start to loosen some. Wish I knew more to help you but I am sure some of the other guys will chime in with somegood ideas.

agro1 · #4 (**permalink**) 11-12-2002, 10:29 AM

Good stuff guys - Throwin' a wrench on that puppy after work...Time to get dirty -

A Snake · #5 (**permalink**) 11-12-2002, 02:19 PM

Especially check that little short hose top front. (the one you can't get off without taking the pump loose)

If you don't get rid of it with tightening clamps, you might loosen the alternator belt and check for play in the waterpump shaft. It isn't impossible for a "new" pump to lose a bearing. If it does, it will leak around the shaft.

Al

agro1 · #6 (**permalink**) 11-13-2002, 07:54 AM

...Turns out is was coming from one of the water inlets on the water pump. The brass hose fitting was loose in the pump (??????) but the hose clamp was nice and tight. So I just removed the hose and fitting, cleaned'em off, used some new teflon tape and tightened that sucker back down...Seems to have done the trick. Thanks for the suggestions.