View Full Version : Coolant leak.. from rear of engine??
MorganS13
05-07-2003, 11:25 PM
The other day i was just starting to drive back home from motorcycle class and i noticed my temperature needle was about 3/4 of the way up the guage after about 2 miles or so, i've never had anything but normal temperature before. It went back to normal shortly after and didn't peak again for the rest of the half hour drive home. Well the next day i drove my car to my parents house (5-10 minutes away) and noticed a decent sized puddle under my car. i popped my hood and well what do u know.. NO COOLANT! i immediately put some coolant back in and parked the car and took my Explorer with me back to my place. That night after researching a little i thought of the water pump and checked the next day and the leak seemed to be coming from the water pump area. The car had been sitting for about 2 days and i noticed another separate wet spot on the driveway from coolant dripping off the back of the engine where it connects to the tranny as well :confused: i looked but could not visibly see or feel where it was coming from (need a better jack). i plan on taking a better look this weekend but i'd like to have an idea of where to check first. No smoke, no powerloss, just coolant that likes to leak when the car has been running for any amount of time. I felt some coolant around the bottom of the waterpump so i'm sure thats going to need replaced, but i don't see how the coolant could have worked its way to the back of the engine, or is the engine slanted that much that its possible??
just when i was starting to actually like my car again too.. :mad:
twitchy
05-08-2003, 12:58 AM
heh you have the same damn car as me!
Im no expert but its unlikely you can gauge where the leak is from where the puddle is. It will likely leak off something, drip down something else and spill over something before it hits the ground (get me? picture pouring water slowly from one glass to another)
but you knew that. The only thing I can say is to get your chilton manual out (if you dont have one check your library) and look at the cooling system diagrams. It will show you where all the connections are. The one I can think of being closest to the back is where the coolant enters your throttle body, and that isnt even that far back..although it could be dripping off this and that. Good luck and please let us know what it was. Also, maybe check the plugs in the block, like where you would put a glo plug for a block heater? Sometimes those get loose
knightrider
05-08-2003, 01:15 AM
its probably your water pump, its hard to trace leaks unless your engine is spotless and even then its hard when its coolant, because its half water and evaporates, i would replace the water pump, its only like 35$ and takes about 45 mins to install, plus you said you felt seepage under the waterpump. hope you fix your problem.
planb
05-08-2003, 01:46 AM
heater hoses maybe? your car is sexy. nice and clean.
DarkRaptor42
05-08-2003, 11:47 AM
I had this same problem the other day. There is a heater hose that goes into the back of the head, its next to impossible to get to without tilting your engine forward somehow. but Id bet dollars to dounuts thats were your leaking from if it looks like its coming off the back of the engine.
MorganS13
05-08-2003, 12:36 PM
thanks for the replies, i just picked up a new waterpump from Napa and its goin on this weekend. After thinking about it for a while i find it pretty unlikely that i'd have more than one part of my cooling system just crap out on me at the same time. Also i noticed that when i jacked up my car it caused more fluid to drip out the back of the engine at the spot it was leaking from before. that leaves me to believe its working its way back from the water pump, but i'll guess we'll see once i put on the new pump
Dousan_PG
05-08-2003, 01:05 PM
coo
water pump job is easy
9 bolts total and about 1.5 hours max time
you dont need to loosen your belts too!!!!
just pull off the pulley and put it back on with the belt at same time! :) :)
MorganS13
05-08-2003, 05:13 PM
well after taking off my intake, radiator hose, fan shroud, fan, fan clutch, pulley, and water pump (next time make sure there is no coolant in the engine, NO COMMENTS!! :mad:) everything was looking good.. then after applying RTV to the engine block/waterpump and letting it settle for 10 minutes, i noticed that there were no studs in the new water pump to connect to the pulley and fan clutch (picture included). since the holes in here are threaded anyway, can i just get some bolts and use those or does anyone see a problem with this..? Also, where do i drain the coolant from my engine block?? i can't find it in my chiltons or previous posts for the life of me..
here are my next steps (help me if i'm forgetting anything) : flush some coolant/distilled water through the block, fill the coolant resevior, start it up and make sure the temperature holds steady... somehow this seems too simple, i just wanna be careful with this because i know it could cause some problems if i forget something. thanks
knightrider
05-08-2003, 08:32 PM
you can either remove the studs from the old water pump, or use bolts, you just have to find some bolts long enough to thread into the waterpump, but short enough to be able to get em in the holes, either way is fine,
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