Thread: Coolant Leak?!?

OK, so ive been leaking coolant very slowlyy. I think it from the water pump because its puddling underneith the water pump. How do i know if it is actually coming from there. The part is only 35 dollars and the gasket is only 5 or so. Can i do this myself without it being a big deal, if not how much would it be to have someone do it?
Its Leaking here.. Maybe coolant elbows?
Its puddling here..

get under the car and look with a flash light, might be coming out the weep hole.

Its a pretty easy job, just standard hand tools are needed.

there's a small hole in the bottom of the water pump housing where coolant leaks out to protect the bearings inside the pump when the seals start to go bad. best way to diagnose is to pressure test the cooling system. autozone or other parts stores should have a tool to rent. pressurize the system to 12-15 psi and see where it's coming out

edit: the first picture is above the water pump. most likely coolant elbows or the intake gasket, both are fairly common when talking about 3800's

If it was the intake gasket, wouldnt it be buring the coolan? i think ill start with the coolant elbows

Intake gasket can only seep oil at the end where you took the picture. If you are leaking coolant, it should be either an elbow or the water pump.

Water pump:
Drain cooling system
Loosen all 4 8mm bolts on water pump pulley
Remove belt(s)
Remove water pump pulley (it makes a great parts tray)
Working through the pulley holes, loosen (undo them fully, but leave bolts in it) the 2 13mm power steering pump bolts at 12 and 6:30 o'clock. Lower it gently in order to not break the oil pressure sensor directly below it.
If supercharged, remove the supercharger idler pulley and it's stand (1 x 15mm, 3 x 10mm)
Remove 4 x 10mm and 4 x 13mm bolts holding the water pump to the timing cover (I might be wrong on the number of 10mm)

If you wanted to do the coolant elbows, this is a perfect time:
Disconnect negative battery cable
Remove the alternator
Remove three bolts holding tensioner to engine, wiggle until it comes free.
Swap coolant elbows (use a lube on the o-rings to help them install)
Wait to put tensioner back in place until you finish water pump

Water pump should now be loose and come off
Glean gasket surface well. This step being done well, will keep you from redoing this job.
Put new waterpump and gasket in place (per FSM the water pump gasket should be installed dry.)
Using thread sealant on all WP bolts, install with a torque of 13ft lbs.
Reinstall the SC idler stand and pulley with sealant on the threads fo the 10mm bolts
Reinstall power steering pump
Reinstall WP pulley
Reinstall belts and tighten wp pulley bolts.
Fill, purge air from system and smiile.

my supercharger idler pulley was a t 55. i had to walk to the parts store to get a new one in the middle of the job. check that out before you start taking it all apart.

easy job mine took me about 45 minutes start to finish.

heres a pic of the w/p off, note the idler on the right side by the crank, and the power steering pump is off. i also moved the fuse box to the side for a bit more room. i tied it up with some string to hold it back.

Good call Scott...I think mines a 15...but someone might have swapped that to make his life easier when he did pullies...lol

awesome, good to hear. make sure you bleed the cooling system, air bubbles are bad

hmmm... well that's either why it was leaking, or it got left behind when you took the elbow out. it wouldn't have gone into the intake, or rather the cooling passage.

Are cars have a oil pressure sensor? Why does my Areoforce say 6555455 on oil pressure then hmmm maybe I broke mine lol

Not a pressure sensor. It just turns on the dummy light on the dash when it senses low oil.

Originally Posted by selym17

SO dont worry about it then?

ummm... unless you feel the urge to pull that elbow back out and look. worst case is that it starts leaking again

Originally Posted by Taz Magister

Are cars have a oil pressure sensor? Why does my Areoforce say 6555455 on oil pressure then hmmm maybe I broke mine lol

your oil pump must be loving life lol

I'd leave the elbow situation alone.. should be ok.

Taz.. W bodies got the sensor that really does little to sense anything. H/C/G bodies got actual sensors. Bonnies had a gauge on the stock cluster.

This is EXACTLY what mine looked like. Little wetness near the elbows, nothing dramatic but I had it puddling in the EXACT same spot as your second picture. I just replaced my Water pump and elbows (aluminum dorman ones). Hopefully this fixes my problem because I can't find a leak anywhere else.