I have a 1998 Honda Civic. A week ago or so I replaced the radiator cap, head gasket and thermostat because the car was overheating and the coolant tank was overflowing with coolant. 15 months ago I replaced the timing belt as well as the water pump. I drove the car on a short trip (about 15 min each way) and when I saw the car 4 hours after parking it last, I saw a significant amount of coolant on the ground. I opened the hood and saw no visible leaks. The coolant tank had some coolant in it, but the radiator didn't. I checked hoses and there were no visible leaks from the top. Also, when I replaced the head gasket, I applied pressure and there was no lost of pressure through hoses.What could this be? Help!

 

You NEED to identify where the coolant loss is. Has the radiator sprung a leak? Plastic top cap cracked or separating from the core of the rad? Was the coolant on the ground at the front or at the side with the alternator?

 

Thanks for your answer. The radiator has not sprung a leak and the cap is not cracked or separating. The coolant on the ground was at the side of the alternator.

 

Water pump.

 

Yeah, that's what was on my mind. Just my luck that before I replaced it 15 months ago, it never gave me a problem. I replaced it as a preventive measure back then so I wouldn't have this issue . Thank you so much though!

 

Yeah. The reason you can't see it leaking is because it's behind the timing covers.

 

Thinking the same.


OP there is a weep hole at the bottom of the lower timing belt cover. Coolant dripping from here is a dead giveaway of a leaky water pump.

 

you many also have to get the engine up to normal opperating temp to see the leak. I worked on a honda that we put a new water pump in worked great for 6 months and started leaking from the weep hole but only when the coolant was hot

 

What did you use for a waterpump? I've seen lots of aftermarket ones leak after a year and half or so. The OEM waterpumps tend to last at least 100,000 miles or more.

 

I had the same question, honda water pumps are the way to go, I have like 165k on mine.

 

There is also a seal on the tube that runs from the waterpump to the thermostat. Check that as well.

 

Hey everybody,

So it turned out that it wasn't the water pump.

I drove it yesterday for about 6 miles and by the time I got to my destination the car was overheating and it had no coolant.Thankfully I had driven to a place where you can rent equipment to lift the car and once I got underneath the car I saw that it was actually leaking from 3 different places, not just one as I originally saw. That made me suspect that it wasn't the water pump. After much prodding around I found a hose close to the distributor but couldn't get to it because it was pinched against it. We got the distributor out and it was obvious that it was that hose. Bought the hose, replaced it and now we're good. Thanks so much for your help!

 

But the distributor is on the other side of the car. How was the leak showing up on the other side of the engine? You mentioned it was leaking from 3 places. Where were the other two?