Can I use a UV kit to find out where all my coolant is going???

jaymac · Oct 27, 2005

I've been having coolant "disappearnace" issues for awhile now, and can't quite pinpoint it. It might be at the top of the lower rad. hose, as I've watched as water dripped on to the ground every 2 or 3 seconds from right about that vicinity, or even the bottom of the water pump. To be honest, I have not given it a terribly thorough inspection. Yesterday, the guage went up past 210 (sunpro gauge), and I stopped and shut it off. After about 2 hours, it took 64ish oz. of water to top off the rad. and the overflow again
I don't have any coolant in the oil, and did do a HG swap on August 20th, so those "should" be OK. It never overheats, except for yesterday. I used to check it once a week or so, and might've been down 6 oz. or so. I have to go check it again this morining, but I hope to have this fixed soon, as I want to do a flush and fill to get ready for winter

Any idea on the UV, or just good old fashioned elbow grease?

jaymac · Oct 27, 2005

and also, I know my heater core is clogged (again), because my heat is non-existant. I thappened last year and I back-fluched it and it worked great. I've never drained the block of coolant when changing the coolant - is this bad??

srothfuss · Oct 27, 2005

You can use a Die to help you pinpoint the leak. Personally I just look for the puddles of green coolant then turn the car on to see where the leak is coming from.

Flushing the block / radiator / heater core helps to remove a lot of scale and buildup that can plug things. Is your coolant still green?

jaymac · Oct 27, 2005

a little bit, but I've since replaced all prior leaks/low levels w/ water, so It's prob. mor like a 75/25 mix...but of course there's the rust color sometimes from the crappy buildup. There's crap on th lower rad. hose, but I think alot of it is from the leaking power steering.

HISSIN50 · Oct 27, 2005

If the weep hole on the bottom of the water pump starts leaking, it will run down the lower rad hose and drip off at that hose's low point. I would look for stains around the weep hole.

Otherwise, scale build up around the bottom water pump fitting is common. Makes it hard to get a good clean connection.

Good luck J.

fiveohGT · Oct 27, 2005

Check the water pump pully for play. Have you noticed any unusual white smoke coming from you're exhaust?

89lxsport50 · Oct 27, 2005

Put a pressure tester on it and look for leaks.

jaymac · Oct 27, 2005

nope, no white smoke. I'll check the pump and the rad hose again. If the weep hole is leaking, is that wrong/bad or usual?
I don't have a pressure tester, how much do they go for/ are there places that will check for free?

srothfuss · Oct 27, 2005

Autozone will pressure test your system for free.

Water coming from the weep hole is an indication of a bad water pump.

jaymac · Oct 27, 2005

Lucky for me, NONE of the Autozone's in my area will pressure it.

HISSIN50 · Oct 27, 2005

If the weep hole is leaking, that suggests the water pump bearing(s) is bad (happens with mech fans).

Good luck.

jaymac · Oct 31, 2005

found it
Turns out one of the plastic clips on the side of the tank that holds the tranny cooler lines had snapped off and taken a piece of the tank with it, right at the cold full line. So every time the engine got up to temp, it would just go right into the overflow and onto the ground... there ya go.
What I ALSO noticed, though, is that the front of the block was wet near the head/water pump area. So I wiped it off, and sure enough, a few seconds later, there was a trickle of water right from under the water pump vicinity down the face of the block. Later on I gegreased the water pump area and found some chunks of water pmup gasket breaking off, so this all leads me to believe that the gasket is shot.
Now when I replace it, what other accessories do I have to remove, and can I just use RTV, and if so, what color?
Thanks guys!

jaymac · Nov 1, 2005

anyone on that last RTV vs. gasket and how-to question??

Michael Yount · Nov 1, 2005

jaymac - serpentine and fan/clutch has to come off, and the a/c compressor bracket is likely in the way. You'll have more working room if you pull the radiator. You'd be crazy to go to the trouble of replacing a water pump gasket and NOT throw a new pump on it. As long as you've got it off. Put a NEW GASKET on it. Clean everything thoroughly - front cover mating surface especially, then just use a bit of Permatex gasket dressing. No RTV should be used at all.

I'd do all my system flushing BEFORE I pulled anything apart. Once you put the new pump in it, you only want the cleanest coolant circulating. And I guess you know you're on borrowed time with that heater core. If it keeps clogging, it's a matter of time till it starts leaking....good luck.

jaymac · Nov 1, 2005

Michael Yount said:
And I guess you know you're on borrowed time with that heater core. If it keeps clogging, it's a matter of time till it starts leaking....good luck.

ahh crap.... not exactly something I'm ready to deal with at this time...
Anyway, thanks for the rest of the advice; I guess I'll ait and slap a new pump on, too.
Any recommendations on a good pump? Aftermarket? Stock Autozone-esque replacement? Is high-flow really better than stock?
Thanks for your help!
J

Michael Yount · Nov 1, 2005

The thing about those heater cores is that they don't care whether you're ready for them to fail or not.

I bought an AutoZone replacement for mine when I re-did the topend 3 years back. Seems to have been just fine. Needless to say -- check belts and hoses while you're in there. One other thing -- don't discard the old pump til you're certain the new one works correctly. These pumps have a 'cover' on the back side of the impeller that's held (partially) on by two bolts that you can only get to when the pump is off the car. My AutoZone special had two bolts with regular size heads on them. Those heads were too thick to allow the pump to sit flush on the mounting surface. I had to retrieve my old pump from the garbage (literally MINUTES before the trash truck arrived - lucky me) and pull the two bolts out of it -- they have VERY thin, low profile heads on them that allow the pump to sit flush on the mating surface. Watch that.

jaymac · Nov 1, 2005

Michael Yount said:
The thing about those heater cores is that they don't care whether you're ready for them to fail or not.

Inconsiderate insolate ingrates....

jaymac · Nov 1, 2005

The webiste says Autozone sells new Duralast water pumps for 27.99. Does that sound right?

Michael Yount · Nov 1, 2005

...sounds right....

HISSIN50 · Nov 1, 2005

I will add one thing to Michael's sage-advice to help motivate you (well you dont need it - I would). On his machine, it sounds like the confines are a little tighter than on a fox. There is plenty of room for wrenching with the radiator left in the car.

AZ pump here. I might have used something a little better if I, well, If I had time to wait and I had money.

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