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Odd Coolant Leak - Driver's Side near Head


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I have my freebie running fairly well, but after work today I noticed a puddle. It was coolant so I topped her off and headed home. She ran nice and cool (got her for free b/c she overheated: replaced thermostat and away we go), BUT I left a drip, drip, drip trail into the garage. :banghead:

 

Upon further investigation, it appears that it is leaking out of the timing belt cover/head area on the drivers side. It is "up high"; near the valve cover gasket area. Any clues on what this could be??? I plan on taking off the cover when I have time (have to go out of town tomorrow) but want input as to what I should be looking for. :confused:

 

Any ideas???

 

(first time posting picture... hope this works)

 

Edit - Thanks for the site... it has helped a TON so far!!! - End Edit

 

13595CoolantLeak1-med.jpg

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UPDATE:

 

So while I should have been sleeping, or doing any one of many of my honey-dos I decided to dig a little deeper. A lot of good that did...

 

Took off the timing cover on the drivers side to see what I could see... nothing. Topped her off and ran her (idling)... no leak. So it appears that it's only when running.

 

BTW, the leak is near the cam. Does that help??? Anyone?

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My Loyale has a similar leak..Mine is coming from the water pump ..but it is from the tube...needs a new gasket ( you know the metal tube on the upper side of the motor). I racked my brain for months trying to figure it out. But mine only really drips when the overflow/resevoir is full.

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As mentioned by Bucky92, it is possible that it is coming from the metal tube that is the water pump inlet from the radiator. It is above the pump centerline, and is a slip fit into the water pump with an o-ring seal. This seal occasionally fails to seal, and difficult-to-trace leaks occur.

 

Regarding the waterpump, is there a visible coolant-stained trail coming from the weep-hole? (All of my weep-holes are visible from the top of the engine.)

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It does sound to me like you have the same leak as my Loyale does...not to complicated to fix..just needs a new O ring..the biggest pain is getting everything out of the way to do it...thats why mine isnt done yet :grin: ..one of the things on my to do list when I replace my timing belts.I just check my anti-freeze everytime I add oil (about once every week and a half). Put it this way...mine goes through a gallon of coolant about every 10 months or so...as long as I leave the overflow empty and the radiator full.

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It is above the pump centerline, and is a slip fit into the water pump with an o-ring seal.

 

How can I check it? Follow disassembly procedures and just replace the o-ring? Hopefully it'll be a visible leak on the way home so I can diagnose in the garage before I head out of town (in my truck).

 

As far as the color, it's hard to tell. There is oil everywhere on the engine so there is really no way to tell. There is no visible stream out of the weep hole; it's just wet all over the top of the pump... maybe that points to it being the metal tube. Hmmm...

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How can I check it? Follow disassembly procedures and just replace the o-ring? Hopefully it'll be a visible leak on the way home so I can diagnose in the garage before I head out of town (in my truck).

 

As far as the color, it's hard to tell. There is oil everywhere on the engine so there is really no way to tell. There is no visible stream out of the weep hole; it's just wet all over the top of the pump... maybe that points to it being the metal tube. Hmmm...

Hot coolant coming out of the weep hole will clear away any oil, and leave a residue along the sides of the main trail. General wetness would tend to indicate another source. The inlet pipe is faily easy to remove, as long as you can get at the bracing bolt(s?). The o-ring is kind of odd/uncommon, so you may want to locate a replacement or commit to RTVing before you remove it.

 

It is also possible that the under-the-manifold hose might be leaking, and the leak just traveling along the top of the block to the wter pump area.

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NEW DEVELOPMENT

 

When I left work I took off the rad cap to top it off and much to my suprise the radiator was still pressurized even though it was bone cold. I bought a new cap and it doesn't seem to be leaking right now.

 

Could this possibly be the solution? The cooling system was getting overpressurized and pushing coolant out any way it could? I sure hope so.

 

I'll post with more next time I can drive it (likely Sunday).

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What Northwet said might be something you want to look into.

 

This is an EA81 so it may not apply, but I had a leak in the hose that went from the water pump to the metal piping under the manifold. I would be ok when the engine was running, but when it stopped it would leak.

 

I found out where it was when one day I turned off my car and when I came back a couple of mins later, it was peeing green fluid.

 

Good luck w/your leak.. :grin:

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