Things keep getting better...Coolant leak

[pgrindstaff]

So I pull into work today and notice a small stream of liquid that followed my car into my parking space at work but blew it off as being condensation, knowing it was probably coolant.

I go out to my car ready to head to lunch and notice that the drops are still there, but mostly dry and procede to lunch. I hop out of my car and see a whole stream of coolant following my car around the parking lot, oh s#?t, this is bad. Over lunch I sit and ponder why I didn't see and smoke or anything and with that kind of loss surely my car would run warm. Sure enough, the needle does in fact sit a bit further from the center mark than normal.

Back at work I pop the hood and there is coolant all over the rear left side of the engine bay and it appears the source is a hose below the resivoir behind the engine cover. A lot of the coolant was sitting on what I can only guess is a pump that sits next to the fuse box, but that doesn't really matter as the leak is more important than what got messy.

I noticed last week when I had to get two tires replaced due to a flat that the shop had topped off the coolant because the coolant level indicator came on. I wouldn't say that this is conclusive, but it looks like the coolant they used was green, and the coolant in the engine bay was somewhat thick and tacky.

I wish I had some pictures to give you an idea of where this leak is comming from, but any ideas are greatly appreciated. I figure I can top it off with water and make my 42 mile trek home, but I know that this isn't an issue that I can ignore long. If pictures will help I'll see what I can do this evening.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long ass post
-Patrick

[Evan]

it's the auxiliary water pump or the heater valve... no biggie... one of the inlets or outlets broke.

take off the heater valve cover.. it just unsnaps... and have a good look

[pgrindstaff]

Will it be ok to drive until the issue is fixed? Obviously I will need to keep an eye on my temp and add coolant as needed? Thanks for your help.

[Evan]

its fine to drive... but at some point soon it will leave you stranded... hopefully you can make the drive home... i'll keep my fingers crossed


in the meantime, take the heater valve cover off and take a close look... see if you can identify the exact source of the leak. the auxiliary water pump is a separate unit from the heater valve...

in any case, you can reroute the hoses before you leave work.... connect the hose going into the pump with the hose going into the heater valve... this will eliminate the flow of coolant through the valve...

[pgrindstaff]

UPDATE:

Ok, before I left work I went out to top of the coolant with water only to have it leak out as fast as I could pour it in. The damn barb on the bottom of the expansion tank broke half way off, which is actually lucky for me considering I had to get home somehow. So a couple of guys helped me get everything back together, let it warm up, drove it around the block to make sure it wasn't gonna pop off, and away I went. 1:20 later I get home with no problems and ordered a new expansion tank from BMA.

Thanks again Evan for the ideas, I did check on the aux water pump and heater valve and they look ok.