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This morning when I was checking oil level, I noticed my coolant tank is all empty. Last checked was about a month ago when I did an oil change and the tank was at max back then
There is no error showing on dash.
Tried to take some pictures with my phone from underneath. I see coolant stain all over the places. The highest is at the bottom screw of the thermostat, a big chuck of coolant crust there (note that pink bolt at the center of second picture).
Is this the thermostat housing leak or the waterpump leak?
Water pump was replaced by dealership approx 50k km ago.
Thanks a lot in advance
Last edited by strikeraj; Oct 7, 2016 at 10:54 AM.
Judging from these photos alone, I'd say that's thermostat housing but it's an educated guess more than anything. If you get under your car, can you actually see/feel any cracks in the thermostat housing? Can you tell approximately where the coolant was dripping from (I'm assuming not since it looks to be a bit all over the place). Still pretty sure its the thermostat housing.
i was trying to take the water pump pulley off and see if there is crust inside like other DIY thread shown, but even with the belt on, im turning the engine over with the water pump bolt T_T
Any other thoughts? Still trying to figure out where it has been leading from....
One more question... On the reservoir cap, one long rubber hose connects to the water inlet, does the short hose connects to anything? Or does it just hang in the air?
Since the leak appears to be higher up the motor, I'd start around the thermostat area.
The overflow tube there doesn't go anywhere; the exit of that tube simply rests near the top the radiator...aka, open to atmosphere.
Thanks for the reply. I just did a bit more testing.
1. Top up coolant in both tank and water inlet. Start the engine and turn on heat. Idle until heat starts blowing. No leak.
2. Drove to work this morning. Temp needle just arrived the middle mark about 1km from work. Stop engine and open hood in work parking lot, coolant everywhere in front of the engine, white smoke coming out. Tank is still at the full mark though. (afterthought, should have open the hood before stopping engine to see where it is dripping from.....)
I ordered the thermostat and housing from my local dealership and going to swap it.
Keep an eye on that temp gauge while driving it in the mean time. I've never seen my temp gauge hit the halfway mark, even on the hottest of summer days. Only ever hits a needle's width away from halfway on the cold side. You DON'T want to risk a blown headgasket!
Let us know if the replacement parts work out for you. Don't forget about blurping the cooling system after the new part install.
Keep an eye on that temp gauge while driving it in the mean time. I've never seen my temp gauge hit the halfway mark, even on the hottest of summer days. Only ever hits a needle's width away from halfway on the cold side. You DON'T want to risk a blown headgasket!
Let us know if the replacement parts work out for you. Don't forget about blurping the cooling system after the new part install.
Thanks for the reply.
I have looked at a few pages for blurping the system , but still confused. Is there a good obstruction that you follow?
Thermostat replaced, things seem fixed and no leaking any more this morning.
The guide on CL did not really explain how painful it is to get to that third nut..... (or may be I am stupid)
Lesson learned on replacing thermostat without removing the water inlet
First nut took less than a minute
Second nut took 5 minutes by removing one small hose on the left of the inlet
Third nut at the back took me more than 30 min, need to remove the hose connecting to the bottom of the water inlet. And a socket wont fit in it due to interference with the bottom hose. I need to remove that big plastic cover to the right of the water inlet and fish a small box wrench from the bottom using right hand, while wrapping left hand fingers around the thermostat to help guide the wrench head onto the nut.
Inspection on the old thermostat housing reveals no crack, so I think it was the gasket that started the leak.
Since I did not drain the radiator, it is very helpful to stuff a few rags on top of crank pulley and water pump pulley and leave the end of the rag dangling above a drip pan. This helps guide all the fluid gushing out from hoses to more or less drip in the pan. In total I have replaced about one jug of the coolant.
Noticed another slower leak (drips) from the right hand small hose connecting to the water inlet.
According to parts diagram, it is called No 4 water bypass hose, part number 16281
Can someone shed some light on what this hose does?
What is the best way to fix a leak at the connection like this?
Need help identifying coolant leak!!
