Coolant leak ??? Help, I'm freakin' out.

[Daffy]

Coolant leak ??? Help, I\'m freakin\' out.

My 7,000 mile 2000 beauty bled coolant all over my garage floor today! Driving the 30 mins home I thought I smelled coolant, but figured it was a junker in front of me somewhere, when I got out of the car in the garage the smell was still there. I checked under the car & I had a gentle pouring dripping of coolant coming down from the drivers front, just behind the fascia. It was too late to call a local tech, I'll do that in the morning, but I'm looking for thoughts from the guru's, I'm a little concerned. The weather was warm, about 95, but I've driven in hotter, car wasn't running hot at all, everything seemed perfect.

My baby, ohh the humanity, any help words of wisdom are appreciated.

Dave.

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Coolant leak ??? Help, I\'m freakin\' out.

Driver's side? usually when this happens it pours out the passenger side. Check the coolant over flow bottle through the slit in the passenger side wheel well and see if the bottle is full. If not, remove the tire, remove the rubber plug and reach in and see if you can feel the hose on the top of the bottle. It may have come loose from the goose neck. If not, get the front end up. There is a small dog eared shape flap on passenger and driver's side right behind the bottom corner of each facia held on with two bolts. remove the passenger side one and either reach in and feel for a hole at the bottom forward corner of the bottle, or look in if you have it high enough.

 

[Daffy]

Re: Coolant leak ??? Help, I\'m freakin\' out.

I checked as best I could with the car on the jack, from the bottom and from the top. Coolant ran down right where the chassis comes to the front on the drivers side. No leak from the top hose so it must be near the bottom. When a put a gentle squeeze on the radiator hose at the top I here a sucking sound from near the bottom of the drivers side radiator, but I just can't see anything.

How about opinions on making the 30 min drive to my dealer / viper tech. Should I go for it & watch the temp.

Dave.

 

[genXgts]

Re: Coolant leak ??? Help, I\'m freakin\' out.

Daver,

Sorry to hear about your cooling issues, considering I just came in the house from a few hours of trying to lick my coolant problem I may be able to offer some advice.

As was stated check and add if needed to the front fascia bottle, turkey baste the coolant into the top overflow line just under the rad cap (top of the 2 lines that are rubber into stainless), then add if needed to the purge resoivoir up top. Clean all the fluid on the floor, and jack the thing up flat on jackstands, fire her up, with full heat and fan for kicks and watch for where the stuff is coming from. I found mine is leaking from a gasket up top by the water pump, not the pump itself. The housing around it, doesn't look very easy to get to, my first trip to the dealer, this could get ugly!

Keep in mind the water pump has a "weep" hole, and will on occasion burp out small amounts of coolant after a hard run, or if the system was not purged correctly and has air travelling thru the system as well, so look into that as well, but your "large puddle" sounds a little beyond weep hole amount IMHO!

Keep this thread active, like to hear what your root cause was, the overheating issues of early GENIIs are starting to affect the enjoyment of this thing.......

 

[Birvini]

Re: Coolant leak ??? Help, I\'m freakin\' out.

I have a 94 that had a coolant problem. It was the overflow bottle that sprung a leak from a screw in the front facia puncturing the bottle. I may have bottomed out at a crappy gas station that had deep dips. Anyway, drove it for quite some time nervously watching the temp gauge. You should be fine to drive it to the dealership that has to honor the warranty, or call them and see what they would like to do about the problem. If they want you to drive it to them, try to stay over 30 mph, turn the heat on full blast, and be prepared to be REALLY uncofortable.

 

[Daffy]

Re: Coolant leak ??? Help, I\'m freakin\' out.

Update: since some folks asked for one.

I left the car at Antwerpen Dodge in Clarksville, MD for 4 days. Result was they couldn't find the leak, even though I pulled in & leaked enough coolant on their floor to run all the way outside of their garage doors, after letting the car sit for 3 days because their viper techs reportedly weren't showing up for work (huh?). Anyway, got her outta there. The only thing I got for that trouble was 4 wasted days, my hood was closed incorrectly so one side was unlatched & the other side was latched, ouch, and a filthy car - oily hand prints ALL OVER IT, mixed with a coating of pollen, nice touch.

So, I took right over to the recommended dealership in my woods, Herb Gordon, in Silver Spring, MD. Two days and counting. They told me I'd have word by noon today, um no word, no call back, but hey I'll check tomorrow & give another update.

I don't want to sound b!tchy or anything, but the service I got on my viper was the worst exp I've ever had for car service @ a dealer - it just really surprised me, I guess I was expecting something a lot better considering this is the most expensive car I've owned. Oh well.

Dave.

 

[MichaelP]

Re: Coolant leak ??? Help, I\'m freakin\' out.

Dave that really does ****.

Sorry I can't give you any advice.

 

[GaryA]

Re: Coolant leak ??? Help, I\'m freakin\' out.

When I first bought my car I took it to Antwerpen Dodge for one warranty item (high mount stop light) and after that experience never took my car back for any warranty repairs. You were lucky, the Viper tech that worked on my car decided to wipe his greasy paw prints off my car with a shop rag that I'm quite sure had seen the shop floor a couple of times. I have buffed the spot a bunch of times and still can't get the scratches out. NEVER AGAIN!!

I'd rather take it to a guy I trust (Jason Heffner) even if it means paying for it out of my own pocket because I'm never disappointed.

 

[Daffy]

Re: Coolant leak ??? Help, I\'m freakin\' out.

Gary,

Amen to that. If I'm not confident with the results from Herb Gordon (I haven't lost faith in them yet), Jason is my next stop. Hey, how can we get him to be a warranty repair site? I wish. But you're right-on, I'd much rather pay Jason to do a 100% job, then to continue on this path. We'll see.

Dave.

 

[Daffy]

Re: Coolant leak ??? Help, I\'m freakin\' out.

Got the call with the diagnosis today. A pin hole leak in my radiator. They've ordered a replacement & expect Friday or Monday. So I guess that's kudos to them, the first dealer couldn't find the leak, after 4 days even. I'll update if anything goes wierd. Otherwise, to local guys I'd have to say; double bag Antwerpen (geesh), Herb Gordon seems on the ball.


Dave.