dustin

The topic basically sums it up, but I noticed a small drop of coolant under my car the other day. I thought nothing of it, and forgot about it.

Next day, I smell coolant while I am driving. I convinced myself that it was not my car since I had the windows down and this really nasty car was next to me. The next day I notice a 2-3" in diameter pool of coolant under my car when I get ready to leave in the morning, so I began watching the contents of my overflow reservoir. It was at MAX.

Today I go to leave, and there is no coolant under the car and everything seemed fine. When I get home, I find out that there was a pool of coolant beneath my car after I left. I am /sure/ that there was none there when I got in the car, so it must have started leaking when I let the car warm up (as I always do before I drive it) I checked the reservoir and it was about 1" down from where it was this morning... so I lost a decent amount of coolant today.

So, I decide to take a look under my car and see that about 6" of my downpipe (right under the intake manifold) is caked white from dried/burned coolant. There is coolant all over my block, oil pan, shifter, linkage, transmission, intermediate shaft, etc. Coolant is actually splattered lightly all the way past my exhaust resonator. It is hard to tell where the coolant is coming from... but it looks like it is coming from right behind (above?) the black little box under the intake manifold (sorry for the technical term, I never knew what that dumb thing was called). I check the coolant line that I replaced when I put my AEM intake in a long, long time ago... and it was a little loose. The metal fitting had some dried coolant on it too. About 1/2 turn of the little clamp and the hose came right off... and I spilled about 1/3 gallon of coolant on the ground (I thought it was going to stop soon.... nope).

So I get all worried thinking evil head gasket type issues, so I fill the car with coolant and take it for a drive. It drives just fine. When I get it home I decided to do a compression test (I have been doing lots of 8psi+ boosting lately... hehe). I got 230psi across the board and the plugs look perfect (to me).

Any ideas? This all started about 4-5 days ago out of the blue entirely. It really looks like it is coming from right under the thermostat housing, but I see no visible leaks or anything, just dried coolant in places.

Dustin

earl

Steam clean engine and let it dry. Then start engine and let it run until it warms up completely. When under pressure, see if you can see a leak anywhere. Sometimes when the seal in the water pump starts to go bad, it will leak out of the drain hole in the pump. When driving, the coolant can blow anywhere under hood. Plan B...Go to a local radiator shop and tell them you think you might need a new radiator. Have them do a pressure test on the system and radiator. Perhaps the leak will show up elsewhere while they are doing the pressure test. Don't worry, it's not the head gasket...
Earl.

Seraph0

Doesn't sound like the head gasket. Just keep looking for the leak when the engine is hot. Go drive around for a while to get the engine hot, then come back and see if you can find the leak point.

Check the level of coolant in the radiator too in the morning before you start the car.

bQQsted hybrid

Check the main coolant line on the back of the block. The one I'm talking about is the black 1 1/2" (approximately) hard line that runs across the back of the block. The rubber O-rings on that line can go bad and cause a mystery leak. I had one of those go bad on the alternator side of my B18C that caused a leak that ran down the back of the block, down the side of the oil pan, onto the driveshafts, etc. It's hard to tell where it's coming from. It took me a while to diagnose it on my motor too. Same thing happened to "4ce fed" on this board (it actually happened to us at the same time). HTH


[Modified by bQQsted hybrid, 6:30 AM 7/20/2001]

b18bturbo

all check out the the line that runs metal line that runs from the back of the block to the tb. check all lines for cracks. it usally fails right there

Ubermensch

Replace the line you got from AEM. I had the same problem and I was convinced the clamp was loose. No matter how much I tightened it and how much honda bond I cake around that think I had a leak. Finally I just replaced the damn hose and everything was fine.

MiraiZ

too much coolant??? If its happeng when the car is warm...the coolant maybe overspilling....check the water pump and all the hoses for cracking or wear as well as the hose clamps...

rtype11

you have to wait until thermostat opens to watch for leaks so let the car warm up, may even be a pin hole on some of your plumbing. doesnt that sh*t reek when burnt!!!! if you can manage run 100% water till you find source of leak atleast itll save coolant and the cleaning job afterwards - just run it easy.

MiraiZ

It really depends on the climate...I wouldn't run 100% water in real hot areas....the water will just boil and make the problem worse. Check everything...including the seal on the radiator cap....warm the car up and try to isolate the leak...

TurboInteg95

It's probably leaking from the thermostat housing somewhere. sometimes those little Orings that go around the metal water line go bad.

Purelude

what does burning coolant smell like?

dustin

Man, it is such a pain to get to that big metal water pipe behind the block. EVERYTHING is in the way. Bah.

Dustin

VaporTrail

A sickly sweet smell, kinda like burning a marshmallow, with a hint of urine smell in there too.

TypeC

It smells kind of sweet. Once you smell it once, you won't forget it. It's amazing how we can tell exactly what is happening to our car just by faint hints.

Dustin, I'd also check the ends of your hoses. The tend to develop small holes/cracks at the end. I usually, just cut the end Inch off and out it back on. -C

dustin

Burning coolant smells terrible, makes me sick. Argh.

Dustin

FAST94GSR

Find it yet?

dustin

I dunno, after re-tightening that hose I have not noticed any coolant leaking, but I have only driven it 40 miles or so. Not 100% convinced that it is fixed yet.

I did notice, though, that there are TWO leaks. And one of them is NOT COOLANT. My ABS unit is leaking break fluid! Any ideas on how to fix that? I do not want to have to remove that stupid thing.

Bah.

Dustin