Coolant leak help fast please!

[blortz]

so my car is leaking coolant as well as making a knocking kind of noise but its not my valves.... i cannot find where my coolant is leakinbg from and when im idling for too long the temperature goes up to 100 degreees celsius within like 10 seconds..... and the car will smoke due to coolant leakingon something hot..... anyone have any ideas as to what it is??? i am replacing the water pump cause i believe it is leaking... the previous owners dumped in a ton of rad sealeant ****..... since then i have flushed the system and replaced lower rad hose.... and it does leak but not enough to make a puddle or anything under my car.... someone help.... i am replacing the water pump cause i believe the bearing is making the odd noise,... i know its one of my pulley bearings but cant figure oout which one


SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE!

[Bio248]

check your oil immediately. is it milky? if so, stop RIGHT NOW and drain the oil. otherwise youre gonna be buying a new motor.

[KingVee]

Like Bio said, check your oil immediately. If it looks like thick chocolate milk, caramel-y or anything like that, your lower intake manifold gaskets or upper intake manifold plenum failed. You MUST replace these immediately and also drain the motor of its contaminated oil.

[blortz]

yeah see my oil is not contaminated...nor was it contaminated when i did an oil change about a week ago..... there is no contamination on the dipstick and no oil loss either...... any other ideas?

[shawngtp]

Take it to da shop asap!!!!

[BillBoost37]

Get us a video of the noise. Knocking is a typical way to describe a bad bearing and well..that's the first thing many of us think about when you say that.

If you are leaking that much that you are nearly overheating the car in 10 seconds, you should be able to locate that leak. Tell us what's leaking, what led up to this noise etc etc.

[blortz]

well i cant find anything leaking... it may be the water pump which i am replacing.... and io believe the noise is my ac compressor... using a stethescope with a rod for vibrations........... the noise is coming from the pulley side... not the top or anywhere near the valves.... what is the approprite operating temperature for these cars... how much does it fluctuate? im not low on coolant or oil or anything.... but the previous owners dumped in a bunch of rad seal and i dont know why?..... the noise pretty much just came out of nowhere... was just driving normally one day and it started.... and when it got really cold out and snowed the noise was completly gone.... then it came back.... i would love to get my car back in top shape without spending a **** ton of money..... plesae help!

[TheOtherNick]

If it over heats in 10 secs and has no visual loss of coolant sounds like you lost a headgasket.

[blortz]

i dont know if its necessaraly overheating...because i dont know what the operating temperature is suppose to be.... like it goes up and down... and when im driving its fine???? ....only when im idling...... im really hoping its not a headgasket... im on limited funds... how do i find out for sure whats wrong?

[noreasonwhyy]

take it to a shop. since you don't quite know what's going on, noone will be able to help you here.

if your coolant isn't low, then you aren't losing any. pressure test to confirm this.

the grinding is probably caused by your a/c compressor clutch. worst case scenario, you'll send shards of metal through your a/c lines.

[QUICKSILVER462]

Rapid fluctuations of the temp. gauge means there is air in the system. This is because of hot pockets of air passing over the sensor. It takes longer than 10 sec. to over heat an engine, but like it has been stated, take it somewhere and have the system pressure checked, this will help find the leak. And jsut for mainatance it would be a good idea to change the LIM if it has not been done in the cars histoy.
Also, bad water pump bearing will make noise and leak, coould be the source of most of your problems.

[BillBoost37]

Normal op temps for these cars is 195F-230F. The fans come on at 216F (low) and 228F (High).

If you are leaking coolant, can't find it...then allow me to help. Water pumps don't leak internally. If you don't see the pump leaking, then it's not leaking. That's a good sign.

You are driving and it's working well w/o overheating past say 240F then you should be ok. On the knocking.. is there any power loss that accompanies it? Does the motor stall, do you have a phone or camera capable of a video. If you do, that would help us pinpoint it in seconds. So while you are begging us for help...none of us are driving into snowy Canada to come listen to the noise. Please help us help you.

Oh..and if you are unsure of something, please say that. By telling us it's overheating, we assume you understand what overheating means. To follow that up with being unsure about operating temp, well that makes it tough to trust what you've supplied. That can lead us in circles. In the end this is your car and we are willing to help. We won't waste your time.. we know exactly what to ask.

[blortz]

thanks. there is no power loss....poor gas mileage though..

i will do a lim gasket soon then im sure it isnt too expensive. i do my work myself. a new water pump is going in on saturday with blower motor and belt we will see what happens. if it still leaks after then i will get it pressure tested...
thanks a bunch

i will also post a video of the noise tomorrow so we can pin point where it is coming from

[rmcardle3]

I see you stated you have no signs of oil contamination.
I also see that you stated you had no oil loss but did you check for an unexplainable oil level gain (at the dip stick)?

I see you stated you have no signs of coolant contamination.
I also see you stated you had no coolant loss but did you check for unexpainable coolant level gain in the coolant reservoir?

You know does some level go unexplainably up by itself while some other level goes unexplainably down by itself?

Think about it before you post it.
Measure your responses with certainty otherwise you will have to pay someone to do all your talking and fixing, FOR YOU.

Where does the burning fluid seem to come (be burning) from?
Under the hood?
Out the tail pipe?
Smell: (Like Oil burning or sweet or just like raw fuel)
Every bit counts.

Hope this helps.
Good luck.

[BillBoost37]

I'm done in this thread.

You are doing a water pump for nothing from the sounds of it. In cases like this...I feel I should charge for my wasted time.