Hi all

I seem to be having a coolant leak. Its leaking from a hose / pipe that is right nrar the firewall on the left hand side of the car. It looks like some kind of overflow pipe but i have no idea.

Thefe is no coolant getting inside the cab but the car is heating up and im going through 5l of coolant in the last week.

Any diagnosis advice or assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Edit
I have a 1999 Kh verada

Is a heater hose, suggest you book the car in now for repair before you cook the motor

Thanks mate, will drop it at the mechanics on my way to work.

In the meantime - I recommend filing the radiator with some coolant stop leak - it may help sealing the leak up (somewhat). Keep an eye on that temperature dial and keep a good 2L bottle of water in the car for emergencies.

Coolant stop leak products like chemi-weld etc, have been known to block radiators. It's useful in older cars if you have a small head gasket leak, but it can't fix a worn rubber heater hose.

pepper works to or an egg white but hey nothing beat a true diagnoses and the correct fix for that problem

Coolant stop leak products like chemi-weld etc, have been known to block radiators. It's useful in older cars if you have a small head gasket leak, but it can't fix a worn rubber heater hose.

Plus 1 for this. doesnt take much to cook the motor either.

In the meantime - I recommend filing the radiator with some coolant stop leak - it may help sealing the leak up (somewhat). Keep an eye on that temperature dial and keep a good 2L bottle of water in the car for emergencies.

NO don't do this, especially in a magna. The radiator for starters has cores far too fine to use this stuff. You are not in the middle of the outback so park it, call NRMA and get it fixed.

Thanks Guys for the advice.

I have taken a photo of the area here. THis Pic is the area of the second pic

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj547/nafe1982/photo1.jpg

Here is the pic of the hose as labled

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj547/nafe1982/photo.jpg

where is it leaking in the second pic?

It is leaking out the end of that hose that the arrow is pointing to. My problem is I have no idea what that hose is, weather it should have something connected to it or is it just an overflow and there is a deeper problem.

There is no coolant getting in the footwells but it drips out of that hose at a decent rate. When the car gets hot (like the gauge goes above normal) when i stop coolant runs rather than drips out of this hose. But the funny thing is driving it to work today it didn't drip, but i was using my heater this morning so not sure if that has anything to do with it.

If it is hose you have pointed to then it is not coolant as this is the ac drain. I think you will find that either your heater hoses are leaking or the pipe into the firewall is cracked.

If you have coolant in the footwell of your passengers, then it's heater core. Get it checked out by a mechanic or someone who has seen it before either way

I think Madmagna is one the money here. How wet is it? If you pull up and check under the Passenger MLV/Underlay does it smell like coolant?

No the passenger footwell is bone dry. No coolant in the passenger footwell at all. I have it booked in for Thursday. Hope it's a simple hose

Is the coolant dropping on the floor where you park?

In that area only really the heater hoses can cause you to go through so much coolant a week. Have a look to the left of where you pointed that area, there are 2 hoses that go through into the cabin, they are the heater hoses, they connect to the plastic inlet/outlets of the heater core, these are plastic and overtime like to disintegrate.

As for the passenger footwell have the lifted the carpet and then lifted the MLV and underlay for that aswell?

Is the coolant dropping on the floor where you park?

In that area only really the heater hoses can cause you to go through so much coolant a week. Have a look to the left of where you pointed that area, there are 2 hoses that go through into the cabin, they are the heater hoses, they connect to the plastic inlet/outlets of the heater core, these are plastic and overtime like to disintegrate.

As for the passenger footwell have the lifted the carpet and then lifted the MLV and underlay for that aswell?

Thanks Mate I'll have a look at those 2 hoses shortly.

I have had the passanger side pretty much pulled apart looking for signs of coolant but nothing. So it all points to a hose it seems.

Thanks all for your help.

Ok I had the car at the mechanics today and he said the leak was from 2 o rings from the cooling pipe that runs under the engine to the water pump (my thoughts were way off).

Anyway he said he needs to pull off everything including timing belt and water pump and needs to replace them also while he has them pulled off (even though they were done 40,000K ago). So sounds like its going to be an expensive job. He's quoting it up and letting me know how much its going to cost. I'll keep you updated.

EDIT:

$1,200.00 to repair.

Why do I do this to myself

Well i got a quote this morning from KMart Tyre and Auto for $1,200 telling me its the o rings on the cooler pipe that runs under the engine to the water pumo. Apparently he needs to rip the top of the engine off to do this and will take 2 days. Fair Enough. But when i'm spending that much on a repair i want to make sure im not being ripped.

Anyway I took it to my old mans mechanic and he put the pressure tester on it at 20psi and said he couldn't see any leaks. He said there is obviously a leak somewhere as there is coolant on the transmition and recomended pulling out the air box and covers, washing down and then running the engine to see if icould see anything (They could do this but as i was just a walk in couldnt do it today). He said its unlikely to be the water pump as if the water pump leaks it usually shows by the coolant drying crusty in the area and there was no evidence of that and very little coolant on that side of the engine.

Does al this sound plausable? And how would the 1st guy have seen where the leak was on with the car on the ground while the 2nd guy had it up and down on the hoist and couldnt determine where the leak was.

thats a joke, and i seriously dont think that it would be those o rings. it is more likely the seal on the water pump. it is only a 2 hr jobs to change those o rings anyway. go somewhere else.

my bet is that it is leaking water out the back of the water pump, and its flowing through the valley of the v and dripping down the tranny. even a water pump is only a 3-4 hr job for someone with half a brain.

But removing the timing belt is the tricky part of getting to the water pump, a false move with the timing can end in a world of trouble.

What i think you need is a NSW person who is local and knowledgeable to have a quick squiz at it or for them to recommend someone who is a good mechanic. What you just said about Kmart Tyre and Auto is exactly what i think about those big chain places - they'd get a rookie on the job to do it and make you pay for it.

Listen to MadMagna, he knows his way around the car. Even PM him and you guys have a chat he will point you in the right direction. Jack your car up and have a good look under it, clean it up and then drive it and then have a nice look to see where it could be coming from

But removing the timing belt is the tricky part of getting to the water pump, a false move with the timing can end in a world of trouble.

its not hard if you know what you are doing. timing belts really arent that hard to do.

with timing belt kit (includes 1 of the orings if you get a dayco kit) and water pump plus labour, it should cost you no more that $800. and that is assuming the mechanic will take 5 hrs to do the work.