Another day, another leak

[robvas]

Pulled the car out of the garage, and there's a small puddle underneath. Antifreeze. Coolant overflow is a little low, I thought I smelled it last time I took the car out.

Hoses all seem good, can't see anything leaking in the engine bay. Slide under the car and the transmission bellhousing is slowly dripping antifreeze as well as the bolts on the oil pan. So it's almost like it's leaking from the back of the engine.

Hard to get a good look back there. Any guesses?

Puddle seems to be centered, maybe towards the driver side. But it's the rear of the engine, not the front where the radiator etc is.

Last drove the car 3-4 days ago? Maybe I'll start it and see if anything comes out.

 

[Bullitt1448]

Liquid can be hard to track to the source, where it appears can be far from the source, good luck with your search, all you can do is start where you see it and track it back

 

[patc84]

pressure test the system and see.

 

[01yellercobra]

I'm going to guess it's the fitting behind the water pump. It's the one that the hard line for the heater slides on to. There are two o-rings on the fitting that can go bad. The coolant will run down the valley and drip down the back of the engine.

 

[robvas]

Started her up, ran for 20 minutes, backed into the driveway....hasn't leaked a drop yet. Made sure to turn the heat on. I'll go check on it again in a bit.

 

[robvas]

I'm going to guess it's the fitting behind the water pump. It's the one that the hard line for the heater slides on to. There are two o-rings on the fitting that can go bad. The coolant will run down the valley and drip down the back of the engine.

That doesn't sound fun

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

check the coolant crossover tubes as well, I had a leak down the back of the motor and it was the pass side coolant crossover where it goes into the head (Granted this was an NA 4v, Im assuming the coolant could still make it down that way)

 

[Roots-type]

Does the car have a head cooling mod?

 

[fordmaster302]

most likely its the heater core

 

[robvas]

Does the car have a head cooling mod?

Do not believe so

 

[01yellercobra]

most likely its the heater core

How would the heater core that's inside the car cause a drip inside the bellhousing?

 

[01yellercobra]

That doesn't sound fun

Step 1- Remove blower

As mentioned, get a pressure tester. You might get lucky and it's something easier to get to. I've had to replace the o-rings on that fitting a couple times, but thankfully both were N/A cars.

 

[robvas]

Went for a 20 minute ride...beat up on a Yamaha FZ6 that wanted some

Anyway, brought it back, parked it in a different spot. Maybe it will leak overnight? Don't see anything yet.

The only spot under the hood is the driver side coolant crossover pipe. Slightly wet. Going to clean that up a bit.

I'm not dumb, I know things don't just magically leak once. Usually a small leak turns into a huge leak real quick.

Also included a picture of the first leak from this morning.

The only other thing I can think of right now, is that because I'm a peasant without a lift I have to use floor jacks. And maybe I had one end of the car jacked up really high and somehow that caused some coolant to leak out of something. But that doesn't make much sense either. My fluid in the IC tank is a totally different green than my radiator as well.

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

any chance it was really cold when it leaked and now the outside temp is higher? When my truck had leaking turbo cooling lines the only time it left a puddle was when it was in the 30s or colder.

 

[fitforspeed]

Looks like coolant dried right behind that sensor connector on the fitting and below with some dried coolant spatter on the crossover as well.


Sent from my iPhone using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[fitforspeed]

Red -dried green- wet


Sent from my iPhone using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[robvas]

any chance it was really cold when it leaked and now the outside temp is higher? When my truck had leaking turbo cooling lines the only time it left a puddle was when it was in the 30s or colder.

I wouldn't say really cold. We are just getting into spring in Michigan.

It was 37 overnight. Car is in a garage. 57 right now.

Hasn't leaked any coolant the last six months. Except when the overflow tank hose got into the alternator pulley...

When this happened on my 97 it was a radiator crack in the corner. No leak and coolant was vanishing. Then a drip. Then some more drips. Then one day ALL THE COOLANT.

But this is in a totally different spot. And I could see steam in the engine bay with a flashlight while the engine was running.

I left the heater off during my drive.

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

im pretty sure coolant flows through the heater core all the same - heat on or off. Turning the heat on just moves the blend door and lets it heat up the air going into the cab.

 

[robvas]

Looks like coolant dried right behind that sensor connector on the fitting and below with some dried coolant spatter on the crossover as well.

I know that area has looked like that for a while but it certainly could leak there last time I drove it. Going to clean that area and keep an eye on it.

 

[fordmaster302]

How would the heater core that's inside the car cause a drip inside the bellhousing?

For when the heater core leaks inside the cab they put an outlet to leak out the coolant so it would not be pouring inside the car and its right next to the bellhousing. Its the same outlet that the AC condensation drips out off