Water Leak WTF!

[Shytheed Dumas]

Fixing one leak led to another, and eventually I had a leak at the firewall on the drivers side. I thought I had it and went for a drive when my guages fogged up and when I got home there was steam rolling up from the floor and puddle under my feet.

A new hose clamp stopped it last night, but when I went out to the garage this morning I have small puddles of coolant on the floor all along the length of the drivers side door. It's weeping from a couple of rubber plugs in the floor panel and what look like drain holes in the frame.

Question: Do I still have a leak, and if I do where in the hell would it be? I think a bunch of water just leaked into various places in the floor & frame and is just leaking out, but I will have my car a the airport for a few days (starting in an hour) and don't want to come back to a car with no coolant.

 

[supra90turbo]

I'd pull the dash and check out the heater core. The heater pipes just press into each other, it could be leaking at the junction.

 

[Shytheed Dumas]

No time for that now. I'll pick up a gallon of coolant on my way to the airport and see what happens when I get back. It'll be Thursday afternoon before I can even think about it. :3d_frown:

Thanks for the tip.

 

[Shytheed Dumas]

Just a thought. Drivers side would be the heater core return, right? So turning the heat off should keep water from running through there... ?

 

[RedDogOIF]

Fluid usually is always running through it regardless

 

[rumptis]

having the heat off should stop it from flowing but there will still be pressure on it and would still leak from that pressure.

The only way I could see it leaking inside the car would be if the heater core is bad, if the fittings are leaking outside it should not be able to make it in I wouldn't think.

Kurt you just seem to have bad luck.

What was causing the Power Steering leak?

 

[da89soup]

Sounds like the core to me as well!!! Sorry man, looks like its time to get a new car.............lol:biglaugh:

 

[Shytheed Dumas]

Jason, my PS leak was because the high pressure fitting that the banjo bolt screws into backed itself out somehow, which made removing the banjo a biotch. I picked up a new banjo seal and it's fixed.

Since I replaced the hose clamp on the firewall I'm not getting anymore leakage into the cabin, so I'm hoping that what I'm seeing leak out is residual from the first leak. Hey, I can hope... :icon_conf

 

[rumptis]

I suppose if everything leaked just right it could shoot back inside. I hope that is the case as well, changing the heater core is not fun at all.

 

[Figit090]

Well, from my minor experiance, i had a leak on the heater core supply line that clamps onto the firewall on the driver's side, i forgot to clamp it on, and under pressure it squirted about half a cup out every time i drove the car... once i fixed it i still had drips, and then it stopped.

my guess is there is a possibility that you just had drips from the leak you fixed, because on my car i had coolant running clear back to the REAR tire. the stuff clings to the body and takes a couple days to drip all the way out

dont rule out the heater core...a blow anywhere is bad, but wherever it got there is a good chance it cant dry up. I think i had some on the insulation stuff under the car where there's a hole and some sort of padding. not sure if theres supposed to be a plug there, but thats how i smelled the coolant. and it took about 3 days and a hose on the underbody to flush off the underside and stop the pink puddles from forming.

if you arent worried about blowing the system, dumping coolant, and potentially overheating your engine past the point of no return (to a BHG that is) watch and see if your system consumes any coolant. i knew mine was done when the level in my overflow bottle stopped dropping. i have a drip leak though and that doesnt make any difference in the overflow, the only way i know of that is looking at my main heater core hose and seeing some wetness (yeah, i'm going to fix it soon)