VigCS

So my car has been running great for the past few days, so I decided to take it to my moms which is maybe an 11 or 12 mile drive. Get there fine without it overheating at all, shut the car off and as I'm walking inside I notice there is coolant dripping like crazy. I do have a small leak coming from the bottom of my water pump that I'm aware of, which is not a huge deal as I'd just top the coolant off every few days. I pop the hood, look under and I see a huge puddle of coolant pooled up in the top of my timing cover under the distributor,...I go 'wtf how does that get there?' -- Intake manifold gaskets aren't leaking at all. I dried the coolant out with a towel after taking a few pics.

I opened the radiator capr to let the pressure out and BOOM....huge amount of pressure releases and coolant goes flying everywhere. Top of the coolant level is maybe 2" down into the radiator. The owerflow tank was about 3/4 full. I'm uploading pictures right now but my internet is very slow tonight so it may take a while. Bottom line - seems like there was a lot more pressure in the cooling system than there should but, but I'm not positive of this. Radiator, and water pump are about a year old, thermostat about 7 months.

This damn car hasn't had more than three hours o frunning how it should be since I did the HCI. Thanks all.

mattdel

weep hole leaking?

92FOX

lol











Cool problems, it's never ending with this car! Need h... - 7/14/2007 3:04:35 PMWelcome to the club,.,

VigCS

No, it's leaking at one of the bolts. It's a NAPA reman'd water pump.

Pics:

ZachW04Stang

Are one of the heater hoses leaking. Looks like it was spraying maybe if it got on top of the distibuter. Maybe just the timing cover is leaking.

5.0stanger

Thermostat housing? Funny how it is on both sides.

VigCS

Which ones are the heater hoses? The small ones coming up from the water pump? I'd believe it if they were leaking...but I'm confused as hell how it got on the other side. It's not pooled on the backside of the gasket so it's not the intake gaskets. Hopefully it's not my timing cover...that would suck. Oh well, one step at a time I guess. Backup cars ftw.

mjr46

the best way to find the leak is put a pressure tester on it after you clean down all the coolant. then look for leaks that is if you can get your hands on one normally there no more than 30-60 dollars can buy them at sears or napa.. as for opening the radiator cap when the engine is at operating temp after shutting it off......what happened to you is normal because as the car sits since coolant flow has stopped the coolant absorbs more heat and builds pressure if I want to check the level when it's warm I usually leave the car running. anyway don't know if you do this but when I seal gaskets I run a small bead of the RIGHT STUFF BY PERMATEX on all gasketed surfaces. this crap is like glue and I've never had a leak after a repair!! however when I've used just gaskets it often leaks sooner or later anyway just a idea.

VigCS

I rented a pressure tester of Autozone about a month or two ago and I had a small leak coming out of the bottom of my water pump, but that was it. I sealed a lot of the gaskets up using permatex high tack silicone to stick the gaskets in place while bolting **** down.

Boss_Hotrod

From the fact that the radiator is low and the overflow is full it sounds like the radiator cap is shot. Try getting a new one. Im not sure what the pressure is but besure to get the right pressure.