Coolant leak - advice needed :)

[webbiegareth]

Hi guys,

Before I take the car into the mechanics (I can't today as it's a public holiday)... I noticed my coolant was low (wasn't overheating though) so I topped it up, and noticed coolant dripping from under the engine. It's not the first time I've seen coolant under the car, and it ONLY ever did this when I attempt to add more coolant (very odd)... well this time I managed to catch the dripping in the act, so I know exactly where it's coming from.

It's not the heater pipe itself, but the heater pipe is attached to a metal tube "thing", and then this goes into the front of the engine. It's leaking at this point (where the metal pipe attaches to the front of the engine).

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/605/coolanta.jpg

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/1381/coolantb.jpg


Anyone know what this is, and if it's an easy (cheap) fix?

[GenFree]

Just an o'ring mate

[Killr6]

its your water pump leaking.

[accentstencil]

Just an o'ring mate

I also think it just needs a new O ring where the part you have arrowed in the second pic goes into the engine.

[webbiegareth]

Yeah in the second pic - it's coming from the seal between the engine and that metal pipe thing (where the arrow is pointing to) - obviously from the underside though, so you can't see the leak in that picture. So an o ring does sound about right. The 1st pic you can see a drip, but the water dribbles away from the seal/join and back a bit, then basically just runs down the front side of the engine so I'll get a small puddle of coolant under the right side of the engine. The drips stop after a half hour or so and it only starts to drip when I top up the coolant - it's been doing this for a LONG time (probably a year now), it's only now that I've managed to finally figure out where it's coming from. So I'm guessing the leak is slowly getting worse over time and I'll need to get it fixed ASAP.

What I don't get is that it doesn't always drip... it only seems to drip when I top up the coolant. It settles down, stops dripping, and it stays like that for ages.

At the last service the mechanic replaced the heater hose itself, which didn't fix it.

Fingers crossed it's not actually the water pump though!

[Claudy]

Nar man, for sure it's the o-ring I had exact same problem! Just make sure u lube up the oring before u slide it back in coz otherwise ull just wreck the new oring