Coolant Leak Mother F!
08-25-2007, 06:00 PM
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Coolant Leak Mother F!
Ok so saw a puddle outside the car this morning. The puddle is more of a drip. It is dripping from around what looks like the bottom of the crank pully. Reached down and the pulley is dry and reached further down and it felt like it was dripping onto the under tray from the front bottom of the oil pan. followed all the coolant lines couldn't see jack. Im thinking a leaking water pump seal or maybe a dead coolant hose. Anyway if anyone has any ideas of places to look please tell me =)
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08-25-2007, 07:58 PM
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My 96 was leaking after the radiator blew up. Thought it was the waterpump so I went back and did that (timing belt too). Still leaking so I went back and did the water pump gasket. Still leaking. Finally figured out it was the hose that's the thermostat bypass. Replaced that. Still leaking. Turned out the 90 degree hard pipe that's part of the lower hose assembly (that goes to the thermostat bypass) was the culprit. Mazda wanted $120 for it, so I ended up just jbwelding it. 2 years later and no problems.
6 months later there's another leak, that I thought was from the most hated hole on the back of the block. After dicking around with the heater core hoses and doing a few other things, it still leaked. I borrowed my buddies coolant pressure system. Turns out it was a weeping hose that would only leak under pressure, going to the oil cooler. I finally replaced all the coolant hoses after the battle to get the intake manifold off.
So... Borrow a pressure system if you can. It's basically just a bicycle hand pump that attaches to your radiator cap. Makes finding leaks *alot* simpler. They might have it at NAPA.
6 months later there's another leak, that I thought was from the most hated hole on the back of the block. After dicking around with the heater core hoses and doing a few other things, it still leaked. I borrowed my buddies coolant pressure system. Turns out it was a weeping hose that would only leak under pressure, going to the oil cooler. I finally replaced all the coolant hoses after the battle to get the intake manifold off.
So... Borrow a pressure system if you can. It's basically just a bicycle hand pump that attaches to your radiator cap. Makes finding leaks *alot* simpler. They might have it at NAPA.
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08-25-2007, 09:21 PM
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or you can get the dye kit that will be visable with special yellow lens so you can pinpoint the leak point.
the problem with the o-ring is that it may require pulling the cam gears as it sits behind the black plate with the alignment marks.... unless you can fit your wrench up in there behind it.
o-ring can be bought at ACE hardware in the plumbing section....
even still, pulling the gears isn't hard, so yes you could do roadside....verify it's that first and not the waterpump...if you pull that gray plastic cover off, you can easily tell (gotta pull the valve cover first).
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08-25-2007, 09:46 PM
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used one of these before, cool tool.
or you can get the dye kit that will be visable with special yellow lens so you can pinpoint the leak point.
the problem with the o-ring is that it may require pulling the cam gears as it sits behind the black plate with the alignment marks.... unless you can fit your wrench up in there behind it.
o-ring can be bought at ACE hardware in the plumbing section....
even still, pulling the gears isn't hard, so yes you could do roadside....verify it's that first and not the waterpump...if you pull that gray plastic cover off, you can easily tell (gotta pull the valve cover first).
or you can get the dye kit that will be visable with special yellow lens so you can pinpoint the leak point.
the problem with the o-ring is that it may require pulling the cam gears as it sits behind the black plate with the alignment marks.... unless you can fit your wrench up in there behind it.
o-ring can be bought at ACE hardware in the plumbing section....
even still, pulling the gears isn't hard, so yes you could do roadside....verify it's that first and not the waterpump...if you pull that gray plastic cover off, you can easily tell (gotta pull the valve cover first).
valve cover is easy... checking if it is the water pump will be cake... that stupid O-Ring will be a pain in my ***. If i have to pull off the CAM gears how do i know how to put the gear back on so i dont F my timing marks?
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