Coolant everywhere

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Mar 4, 2018 | 08:12 PM

Hunterjames700

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From: South Dakota

Coolant everywhere

So here's the deal, the other day I opened my hood to show a friend my engine bay and I noticed a small amount of coolant on my transmission. I cleaned it up and checked it again that night after putting about 70 miles on it and there wasn't any coolant. I then checked again the next day after about 30 more miles and there was coolant again. So I cleaned it up and I've been doing that every couple days since, cuz I've been to lazy to look for the leak.

Well then hen last night I raced a fiesta ST and after two races I could smell coolant pretty bad and saw a small amount of smoke coming from my hood vent. Opened my hood and there was a lot of coolant... like everywhere. I got a pressure tester today and put it to 20 psi and waited about 15-20 minutes and couldn't find any leaks. It is wet where my head meets my block but honestly my whole bay is pretty wet cuz it's hard to clean so idk if it's leaking there or not.

My main question is can coolant be leaking from my head externally but not internally? And if it is leaking could it spray all over the bay from my head?

my oil is fine and my car doesn't burn any coolant. I would also think if it is leaking from the head it would just seep coolant not spray.

And my car never overheated

thanks!

Mar 4, 2018 | 08:13 PM

Hunterjames700

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From: South Dakota

It also seems like it must only do it when I'm beating on the car, so high rpm's

Mar 4, 2018 | 08:53 PM

2006EvoIXer

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What radiator hoses do you have and what clamps are you using?

Mar 4, 2018 | 10:00 PM

Hunterjames700

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From: South Dakota

Oem but I definitely don't think it's leaking from there. The car didn't leak coolant when it was stock hp but it was tuned last week and is now 400hp. Don't know if that has anything to do with it.

Mar 4, 2018 | 10:08 PM

2006EvoIXer

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Using gloves, try squeezing the hoses when engine is hot. Mine leaked at thermostat so swapping a worm clamp solved the problem. If no luck, wrap each hose with separate cloth and anything you can think of with a separate cloth. Drive around hard and check each cloth for coolant.

Mar 5, 2018 | 06:36 AM

Hunterjames700

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From: South Dakota

That's a great idea man thanks! The only thing I'm worried about is if it's coming from my head I don't wanna make it worse.

Mar 11, 2018 | 08:22 AM

SaltySilver

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do you have a different turbo setup? I had a coolant leak recently in a similar spot it ended up being a bad banjo bolt on my turbo, pulled the turbo swapped all banjo bolts, put new copper washers and have zero leaks now, hope this helps

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Mar 11, 2018 | 10:34 PM

codgi

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Had an aftermarket water pump fail recently but that leaked very little coolant while doing so. What sucked was that it was less than 6 months old

Mar 11, 2018 | 10:55 PM

2006EvoIXer

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Quote:

Originally Posted by codgi

Had an aftermarket water pump fail recently but that leaked very little coolant while doing so. What sucked was that it was less than 6 months old

That sucks! The labor is the same as changing the timing belt. What brand did you use?

Mar 11, 2018 | 11:48 PM

#10

zuppy

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From: Flushing, NY

Did you check the coolant lines on the TB? I had a small coolant smell for the past few weeks and noticed it was leaking very little from the bottom one.

Mar 12, 2018 | 08:39 AM

#11

Biggiesacks

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From: West Coast

How old are all the hoses? If you are passed your scheduled replacement you should just replace all of them, and probably solve the issue in the process. Another thing to look at is the radiator itself, the plastic end tanks are known for cracking/separating from the aluminum core and leaking.

Mar 13, 2018 | 08:34 PM

#12

codgi

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Quote:

Originally Posted by 2006EvoIXer

That sucks! The labor is the same as changing the timing belt. What brand did you use?

It was a gates. Previous 2 OEM ones were fine when replaced at 6 years and 5 years respectively. Back to OEM.....

Mar 13, 2018 | 09:03 PM

#13

2006EvoIXer

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I thought about saving a few dollars. Glad I decided not to take a chance with non-OEM. Thanks for confirming the quality difference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by codgi

It was a gates. Previous 2 OEM ones were fine when replaced at 6 years and 5 years respectively. Back to OEM.....

Mar 17, 2018 | 05:43 PM

#14

ScoobySport91

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I notice coolant on top of my transmission and found out it was leaking on the plastic ends of the radiator

Mar 17, 2018 | 06:11 PM

#15

RightSaid fred

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From: in a garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScoobySport91

I notice coolant on top of my transmission and found out it was leaking on the plastic ends of the radiator

All these problems usually happen due to over pressurisation of the cooling system in turn caused by a bad headgasket.

"creeping death".

After you fix the radiator....a hose pops.
Then another one pops....fix that too.
Then a heater hose pops....fix it.
Then the heater core pops.

But it's an old car and the hoses are old...lol

Or worded slightly differently.........if the headgasket is perfect, the cooling system will never over pressurise and therefore the radiator won't fail.
Nor any of the hoses.

Just common sense?

Last edited by RightSaid fred; Mar 17, 2018 at 06:18 PM.