Help! I'm leaking coolant!

CrispinInThisCrispinInThis Band Wagon
in Engine & Drivetrain
I recently lowered my wagon and it seems like I hit a problem. So any help would be greatful!

I drove to work yesterday, roughly around 30-40 miles, and when I got there I noticed I was leaking a huge amount of coolant because of the green color. So after work, I refilled my radiator with coolant...my resevior was still in tact and it was still filled. I drove to my friend's house about 40-50 miles and once I got there I noticed I was leaking coolant again! On the drive there, however, my temp. gauge did not rise nor stay in the cold zone. I decided not to refill it for the drive back to my house, which was about 5-10 mins away. Once I got to my house, I wasn't leaking any coolant, and the temp. gauge did not flare up to the heat zone or anything either. So, I have no idea what is wrong with my wagon! Is it the water pump, a loose hose, or the radiator itself??? I wouldn't know how to check it myself either. I am going to take it in the shop on Wednesday, so any response would be helpful, because I don't want the shop to rip me off. Till then, I think I shall keep adding coolant...someone please respond or PM some advice!

I just put a full omni coilover suspension with full camber kits, and it is sitting on some fresh Mugen NR's so help me keep this wagon sexy by running cherry!

Comments

  • superhatchsuperhatch Moderator
    Start it up and let it run in your driveway. Let it get up to temp and see if you can track down any drips. If you can't see any drips rev it up for little bit, keep it at 2k rpm and then at idle check again. It could be almost anything, although I doubt it has anything to do with lowering.
  • CrispinInThisCrispinInThis Band Wagon
    I hit a pretty deep dip before I went into work, so I was worried that it had something to do with it.

    Thanks!! I'll try your advice right now
  • CrispinInThisCrispinInThis Band Wagon
    Ok, so I started it and I warmed it up and once I revved it, it started leaking. If I just keep refilling the coolant in the radiator, will I be ok to drive it back and forth to work till Wednesday?
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    CrispinInThis wrote:
    Ok, so I started it and I warmed it up and once I revved it, it started leaking. If I just keep refilling the coolant in the radiator, will I be ok to drive it back and forth to work till Wednesday?


    You can't expect us to give you detailed instructions on your car, without detailed information.

    There's only so many places coolant can leak from. Go outside, and watch for the leak. Then fix it.

    How are we supposed to know if it's your water pump, or your radiator, or a hose?

    If you're capable of lowering your car.... you're capable of fixing a coolant leak.
  • CrispinInThisCrispinInThis Band Wagon
    My fault, I'm still really new to all of this. Not much of a mechanic to begin with, but I was just hoping for a little insight because of my lack there of.
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    You just need to take time and inspect it.

    Even if you don't do it yourself, at least you'll have an idea of where the coolant is coming from.
  • JakerJaker familEE
    When you see the leak, is the overflow bottle for your radiator full? Is the leak coming from the driver's side of the engine compartment at the front? If the overflow bottle is full, you're overheating. This could be because of a couple reasons. The last time it leaked, were you driving in stop and go traffic for a while? Was it warm out? Your rad fan might not be turning on. The rad fan switch is a pretty common failure point on these cars. If that's working, you might have a head gasket leak which is letting combustion heat into the coolant, and also preventing the cooling system from pressurising properly, both of which will cause overheating.
  • CrispinInThisCrispinInThis Band Wagon
    Thank you very much for the heads up guys! It's really weird, my temp. gauage says I'm not overheating, but I'm almost fairly certain it has something to do with my head gasket. I noticed it's puffing out some white smoke now. I only drive the wagon on the highway, mostly. It's been pretty cold lately in California too. Dang, I was hoping it was just a water pump problem.

    Even though I'm going through some problems, I'm kinda glad I'm learning a lot about my wagon. I've never really been good at engine repair and all that good stuff. And slamming the wagon was a very cool learning process as well...I'm going to put up some pics soon of all the work coming along. I noticed a lot of people in this forum seem verrrrrry mechanic savvy...I wish I knew half of what everyone on here knows haha
  • PeterPansWagovanPeterPansWagovan Wagonist
    Its probably not your head gasket, good chance is that you cracked your radiator and once it gets up to temp is leaking moderately. The small puffs of "white smoke" is likely to be vapor, you can just see it easier since its cold, easy way to tell (i know this sounds stupid and simple) is to just put your hand over the exhaust tip while its cold for a 10 second count, then pull your hand away, if theres moisture then its just vapor from the cold, if theres not much moisture and it smells off, like burnt antifreeze, then you have a popped head gasket.

    Do yourself a favor before you take it to a mechanic, crawl under it and look for fresh scrapes on the crossmember and the oilpan, if theres some on the crossmember then proceed to check the bottom of your radiator for cracks, good luck bud :D
  • superhatchsuperhatch Moderator
    I'll add that most of us started off with no automotive knowledge, took no classes, and learned our way to where we are now just from trial and error, taking things apart, and not being afraid to mess up knowing we had a good board(s) behind us for answers and help.

    Find that leak!! :)
  • CrispinInThisCrispinInThis Band Wagon
    Alright, I fixed it!! Thank you very much for all the tips!! Peterpanswagovan, it was definitely just the vapor cause of how cold it is. I was able to finally jack up the wagon, and found the leak to be just the hoses....had a couple of small holes in them. *whew* Thank jebus it wasn't as bad as it could've been.

    :-))
  • superhatchsuperhatch Moderator
    Awesome that it was just hoses!
  • PeterPansWagovanPeterPansWagovan Wagonist
    Awesome, glad to hear that it was fairly simply for you :wink:
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