Coolant leak :(
#11
08-19-2011, 08:43 PM
#12
10-17-2011, 09:39 AM
Without more detail, it's hard to know but you might check the thermostat housing/bleeder assembly.
I could tell my '03 was leaking coolant but could only see the coolant on the ground when the car was on a down hill grade. Made it appear like that was the only time it leaked. I could see it dripping off the crossmemeber under the car but couldn't trace it any higher. Knew it wasn't the water pump because it was dripping in a different location.
After months of trying to track it down myself, I was checking everything above the crossmemeber very closely and realized it was coming from the housing/assembly. I think it was probably evaporating on the motor before it could drip when the car was level (could smell burned coolant but didn't connect it to that area). Once I realized it was the housing, it was easy to see the leak. My mechanic couldn't even find it when I took it in the first time. When I took it back to be repaired and showed him the leak, he told me the housing was known to crack underneath after a while. The new bleeder assembly fixed it up and I no longer lose coolant or smell it on the engine.
If that doesn't sound like your leak, it will just take some detective work. And better you spend some time on it than paying a mechanic who will charge you and still may not find the problem. It's not necessarily that they don't know what they're doing or are cheating you. It's more about the difficulty of tracing a leak and having the time to check it under a variety of conditions.
Good luck!
I could tell my '03 was leaking coolant but could only see the coolant on the ground when the car was on a down hill grade. Made it appear like that was the only time it leaked. I could see it dripping off the crossmemeber under the car but couldn't trace it any higher. Knew it wasn't the water pump because it was dripping in a different location.
After months of trying to track it down myself, I was checking everything above the crossmemeber very closely and realized it was coming from the housing/assembly. I think it was probably evaporating on the motor before it could drip when the car was level (could smell burned coolant but didn't connect it to that area). Once I realized it was the housing, it was easy to see the leak. My mechanic couldn't even find it when I took it in the first time. When I took it back to be repaired and showed him the leak, he told me the housing was known to crack underneath after a while. The new bleeder assembly fixed it up and I no longer lose coolant or smell it on the engine.
If that doesn't sound like your leak, it will just take some detective work. And better you spend some time on it than paying a mechanic who will charge you and still may not find the problem. It's not necessarily that they don't know what they're doing or are cheating you. It's more about the difficulty of tracing a leak and having the time to check it under a variety of conditions.
Good luck!