Jasoneo5

iTrader: (4)

Hey,

Today I got out of my car after getting home and this is what I saw. It has been coming out in that mass for about 5 MINUTES NOW!

Today was a fairly hot day and I did have the air conditioner running but I do not think this is normal. I have been filling up my coolant because it has been going down lately. I don't think its a radiator leak because it wouldnt be coming from that corner and I can't see anything from the engine bay. Please help! Whats going on? What do I need to do!? Thanks so much,

-Jason Elcan

VQT

Did you open the hood to see where the leak came from?

Jasoneo5

iTrader: (4)

Yes, at first I thought it might have been over-flow since I have put 1/2 bottle of new antifreeze in over the last week (because the low light kept coming on). I opened the hood and nothing was visibly leaking. The antifreeze container was full also.

VQT

Do you have a pair of ramps? drive the front on the ramps, take a 10 mm socket and ractchet and take all the nuts that hold the plastic cover out. look closer at where the leak came from.
The ramp is sold in any auto parts store, WalMart has the cheapest price.

LexLS

Dude, that picture looks bad! Take your car to a professional!!!!

Jasoneo5

iTrader: (4)

I know, it does look pretty bad. If you look closely at where the coolant hits the pavement there is steam coming off it.

I think the coolant resivour level is different depending on if the car is either hot or warm. Today when I got home I had just been driving 4 people around, driving the car somewhat hard (because there was a lot of weight), had the air conditioner on, and it was about 90 degrees outside.
On top of that this was in somewhat slow traffic, not on the freeway where air could help cool down my engine.

Anyways, I am hoping that it was just very hot and the resivour topped off leaving extra hot coolant to drip out the over-flow.

I filled up my coolant again and drove the car around tonight and everything seemed perfectly fine.

I guess I'll just see what happens tomorow and take it from there.

-Jason

mtsao

Without a doubt you have a leak, most likely a hose that's cracked somewhere. As is generally the case with cracked or cracking hoses only when the engine and coolant is warmed and expanding does it begin to flow from the break. I would recommend that you start by running the engine and as it warms to look under the hood and examine all your cooling system hoses. If you don't find it from the topside, you'll have to go under to try and locate the leak. Also, inspect the ends of the radiator hoses where they connect to engine/radiator/etc and look for white flaky residue. This residue is burnt/dried coolant (I had to replace my top main radiator hose not long ago) and where you find it is evidence that coolant has leaked from that location.

You are correct that the coolant reservoir will show different levels depending on whether the engine is warm/cold and yes, if it's too full it could run over, but this is not what we're seeing because you mentioned that you've been topping it off since it's been going down lately. Coolant does not just go down in such a short length of time unless there is a leak somewhere. And your pic shows a definite leak...not overflow. What's happening to your ride is definitely not normal and really needs immediate attention. In other words, i would avoid driving unless absolutely necessary, and even then make sure that you have coolant on hand. And if you absolutely must drive, I would avoid using the AC because you would just cause the engine to run even hotter in less time and you run the very real risk of overheating your car. If you run into trouble, turn on your HEAT--yes, your heat, because this will cool your engine somewhat.

Mike

RODDMOD

Started leaking last week and hasn't fixed itself yet?? What a piece of crap.

Jasoneo5

iTrader: (4)

what? What/who are you talking about?