So my VS V6 Statey had this leak a while ago which seemed to be coming from around the area the air con water comes out of, but it was coolant due to the green colour. Also my reservoir was overflowing. Only happens when the car is parked facing down hill, or at least that's the only time I've noticed it. Today I parked in the same down hill spot where it happened last time, turned the car off and it was leaking again, the leak wasn't as bad though, and I think it was water (cooling system is temporarily filled with water). I'm pretty sure it was water from the cooling system and not the air con because I saw two separate leaks, one for air con and one for the water/coolant. I popped the hood and tried to find the source, it didn't seem to be coming from the rear main, but more from the transmission, around the area where there is a rod on the left side (I believe possibly for the shifter?). Any ideas what this could be? Does water flow through the transmission as well to keep it cool? Is there a common leak around this area of any kind? Also I DO have a rear main leak or possibly sump gasket leak, but it's just been oil as far as I know. Also I'm not sure if this is related, or even abnormal. But when the car is cold and I take the radiator cap off, the water seems to rise and flow out of the top. Any idea what this is? I did a search on it a week ago and turned up nothing. Any help would be appreciated. Cheers.
Hi Have you checked the heater core for leaks? (comon issue with commies) there is a drain tube/catcher under the center of the core that guides any leaks under the plastic carpet protector so the carpet in some cases wont feel wet You have air in the system thats the reason the water is being pushed out the radiator cap hole ...where the air is coming from is the fun part have you fully bleed the system after a flush with the heater on,is teh ratator cap new? if the heater core is leaking it may be getting air in through there...then its onto head gaskets and intake valley gaskets ect ect
I don't believe the coolant flows through the radiator, the transmission is cooled using a cooler in the radiator. Although, the thermostat could of developed a leak (this is passenger side at the rear of the engine (L67 could be different for N/A)). Test the thermostat to see if it works. If it is the thermostat, replace it with an 82 degrees C one. This will aid in keeping your L36 cooler. I had a similar issue to the one as described, same car. Sometimes the car would leak and sometimes it wouldn't. The water was leaking at the radiator core which made it a bit easier to diagnose. My radiator core was split on both the top and bottom of the core itself. Ordered a new one, changed it and no more problems.I don't believe the coolant flows through the radiator, the transmission is cooled using a cooler in the radiator. The thing with the old core was the car only overheated once. It was loosing coolant for a while then on a hot day it had enough and decided to give up in peak hour in Sydney city!! Lucky a petrol station was right next to me. So check the core for cracks/leaks and hose splits/leaks. Also check the thermostat and see if its leaking around the seal. One of these could be the culprit.
Alright well I've just been doing a few flushes through my cooling system, and then began to flush with some Nulon radiator flush and getting the car to operating temp. I decided while I was waiting to get it to operating temp I would take a look underneath for any leaks from the trans, and I had two puddles under the car with water steadily leaking out of it. This was happening with the heater on, so I turned the heater off temporarily and it eventually stopped, then I decided to turn the air-con on to see if it would still leak, and it did :S. Here's a video. As you can see it's leaking right off the side of the trans. [YOUTUBE]khfuNUEtT5c[/YOUTUBE] Weird thing is it looks like clear water, unlike my dirty coolant. So I'm pretty confused about this one.
Hi Its to hard to see where its coming from, I dont think the aircon/condensation would generate that much water, could be wrong though....check for white dry chalky substance under the car as this will be old coolant thats dried out,this may point you in the direction of leak.. Its pretty bad whatever it is but Id still put money on the heater core is leaking ...if I was a betting man
Hmm I'd say so. I broke the heater tap earlier and had to bypass it, suddenly no more leak! Gonna be a fun job. At least on the bright side I have to take the dash out anyway to install a fog light switch and fix the loose centre vents. Thanks for the help guys!
Hi I did my heater core the cut and paste method only took about 2 hrs ...there is a howto somewhere....here it is http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/vr-vs-holden-commodore-1993-1997/10470-heater-core-vs.html
How can I be sure the unit itself is causing the leak and not some piping? I'm just having a hard time painting a picture in my head about this as I'd imagine the drivers side footwell would also be wet if it was leaking. This might explain why there was so much cleaning product used throughout the car when I bought it though, to mask the smell of bad injectors and coolant lol.
Hi You can use a bit of newspaper or paper towel folded so you can slide it in under the heater core without removing anything it will come out wet and green Mine leaked for months without the carpet getting wet, there is a plastic cover/matting between the carpet and the floor pan.... There is no rubber hoses running coolant inside the cabin (AFAIK) its all copper tubing. You can never be 100% sure its the heater core without removing it but its a well known problem... I went out and got a 2nd hand unit from a wreckers for 40$ as I wasn't 100% sure it was the issue, that way I was only out 50$ and a few hrs as the only new unit i could find locally was 150$
Start by checking the water pump, then along both sides of the engine, both from above and also from under the car until you find the exact location of the leak. Just because it's running off the box means nothing because there is no water at the box, however, there are welch plugs at the rear of the engine behind the gearbox bell housing and along both sides of the engine. Also check the rear top of the engine area with a torch and mirror if necessary.
Nah mate I don't reckon it's the water pump, I'd have seen it, and I've checked the transmission bell housing for any traces of water, nothin. Besides I reckon it'd be dropping off closer to the engine if it was something like that. And like I said, it hasn't leaked since I bypassed the heater tap. So good chance it's something in that area, I'll take a look at the heater core at some point this week to see if I can find traces of a leak.
