Need help with coolant leak :(

[treemandan]

Hi. I bought this VS Berlina 1996 model just under a year ago and the previous owners pretty much were pretty careless with the vehicle and I've had nothing but trouble with this thing.

I have this leaking coolant underneath, its not dripping from the oil sump but a little further towards the back of the car dripping off a tray looking thing? I'm sorry, pretty new to all this stuff and willing to learn. I cant for the life of me find out why its leaking or why coolant is even there?? anyways its leaking pretty badly like a fast dripping tap. Any help would be greatly appreciated

[SP00KSTER]

if it's behind the sump it could be heater hoses

[treemandan]

Hey thanks for the quick reply . Heater hose? ok i'll look into it

[gossie]

You might have to pressure test it??????????

[Wombles]

I was gonna say hoses or inlet manifold.

[cander24]

So its pretty much dripping from the gearbox bellhousing inspection cover plate? If so this is not uncommon at all. Basically you need to replace the rear crank seal alloy plate and gasket. This is what seals two of the coolant passages at the rear of the block and with age and poor coolant condition the alloy plate slowly corrodes and the gasket disintegrates. The gearbox needs to be removed to replace this. New gasket and plate is approx $200.
Cheers.

[hako]

If it is as Cander24 suggests, you may be better off adding a good quality brand of stop leak - this should stop the leak....temporarily maybe but it's not unusual for such repairs to last quite some time and it will certainly save you a lot of cash as removing the gearbox will cost quite a bit as it involves more than just undoing a few bolts and labour is about $90 per hour.
However if you plan on keeping the car for many years then it may be better to do the permanent fix.....but you also say the previous owner neglected the car so this leak may just be the tip of the iceberg.

[treemandan]

Cander24's answer makes the most sense. still thinking of what action I will take on this... Any suggestions on a good stop leak??

[hako]

There are quite a few stop-leaks to choose from, I guess the best way is to ask the bloke behind the counter which is the best one to buy - they will get complaints from customers when it doesn't work so they are not likely to sell you one that has bad rep.

[treemandan]

Okay. Well I'll let you's know how I go

I just want to say thankyou guys for the help and advise it is greatly appreciated! cheers

[VrWagz1]

If you have a NatRad radiator place near you, i think they do free pressure checks and diagnosis of the problem. I know the one near me is not to pushy about them then going and fixing it. If they are, just tell them its a bit expensive and you need a week or two However if u need parts it would be good to give them the curtosy of atleast buying the parts off them.

[treemandan]

I don't have a NatRad near me :/.

Just letting you's know that I dropped the coolant and applied a seal-up (CarGo). done this yesterday and there had been no leaking "so far".

See how we go