mikee111

here's the deal:



i drove 1 hour to my friend's house, and my car was fine the entire way without overheating or leaking. but as soon as i shut off the engine, i heard a humming sound. i got out and opened my hood, and the coolant was evaporating and steaming out somewhere. and i looked under my car, and coolant was pouring down like a waterfall from the driver's side to the passenger side.



i think it was when my water pump stopped running and my coolant was way too hot, it needed some place to go with all that heat and pressure, so it found a weak spot in the radiator to dump from...



i just recently replaced the lower and upper hose with new clamps, new thermostat and gasket, and new radiator cap, and flushed the cooling system. i had a small leak before. and i know it's not leaking from the hoses...



i have one possible idea: that it may be my radiator cannot hold pressure at all; there are 2 hard lines that doesn't go anywhere on the bottom of my radiator, i'm pretty sure that's where i lost all my coolant from; are there any plugs for those hard lines? or are they supposed to be connected to anything? they look like 2 small "L" shaped hardlines (tubes) that come out of the bottom rear of the radiator.



can anyone help me out? any advice would be helpful; i'm going to remove my radiator now to see if there's any damage to it. thanks

UniqueTII

My guess would be the small coolant line under the intake, if you can't see where the coolant is coming from.

7mech

need more info about the car. Year? Model? auto or stick? I believe the "L" shaped line you're talking about is the heater feed hose. Also Check the drivers side heater return hose. It comes off the firewall just behind the Upper intake manifold and connects to the engine just above the rear rotor trailing spark plug.

mikee111

i'll check that out, but i did lose almost all the coolant in a matter of seconds... that's a little too much for that small hose i think... but i'll check.

mikee111

i have an 86 base model manual tranny non turbo..



bought used not too long ago with 141K on original motor..



so the "L" shaped lines are supposed to connect to the heater feed and return? mine aren't connected to anything...

mikee111

i just checked the heater lines, they are all connected and good...



i think the tubes that i'm talking about is for the auto tranny...

bruce

Does it hold water know, Try poring some water in it and starting up to see where the water is coming from(actually have a friend start it while you watch the engine compartment.)

mikee111

it doesn't leak when the engine is running...



it only leaks when the coolant temp is hot (enough for it to steam) and when the water pump is not running...



pretty much when the car is hot right after i shut off the car..



i've taken the radiator off and checked all my hoses... hoses and clamps are good, i know the thermostat is good, i'm just not sure about the water pump and radiator... i have a feeling its the radiator; is there a place where i can test the radiator or do it myself someway?

pengaru

do you have the overflow tank installed and connected? I read the thread but I'm still not clear on wether or not you found the source of the coolant.



I would check the overflow tank, make sure the hose is connected to the system for it, and test (and replace if bad) the cap. Or just replace it.

mikee111

so far so good...



i pressure tested the radiator, and it's good... i once again replaced a few more hoses, and redid the clamps... and also changed all my belts...



so far there is no more leak.. i've warmed up my car a few times and shut off, and still no leak...



the ultimate test is to go on the highway for an hour back to my place... and if it doesn't leak, then i'm good...



wish me luck.. haha