MY CAR LEAKED ABOUT A LITRE OF ANTIFREEZE LAST NIGHT, NEED HELP

[tmoneyballin]

So I had been out for a nice sunday drive (went o Andretti's and had a great time and a couple beers and turned some quick lap times. I drove back to my girlfriends house and parked the car on level ground(had just been driving it for about 20 mins, didn't really "goose" it either = "SUNDAY DRIVE". We went for a walk because it was a beautiful day and when I return she jokingly points out my car is leaking "water" and I said "yeah right". Well upon examing the fluid more closely it was green which is obiously antifreeze. I popped the hood and looked at the reservoir and it was definately depleted about half of the tank. I check the upper and lower houses and without a jack(at her place) and it being dark I couldn't get under the car. I did check with my flashlight and the leak was dripping right at the area around the area where the transmission meets the engine/ back of the oil pan. It didn't appear to have oil or anything and my levels have been jumping around lately(one day its full the next day the reservoir is down 3 inches) so I wasn't sure if this is an overflow problem, possibly a thermostat?

Anyways I filled it up with more antifreeze(never leave home without it!) and water which I keep in the car for the same reason and drove it about 30 miles last night and the level seems to remain constant. I checked it again cold this morning.

Is there a problem or is this just something that can randomly happen? I will continue to monitor its levels to make sure it has stopped but I wasn't sure if anyone has dealt with this before...I just know the levels of the antifreeze reserve have been fluctuating weird over the last 3 months.

Thanks

 

[LaserRed01GT]

Clearly you need to find the source of the leak. It wouldn't hurt to perform a system pressure test and see if the system holds pressure. It should hold at least 15 PSI. Pressure test the cap as well, it should hold at least 15 PSI as well.

Heck you are a millionare, just take it to the dealership.

 

[tmoneyballin]

Yeah why would I take it to the "dealership"? With your advice I would take it to the "shop" and that happens to be my buddy - I pay him for a Mobile One oil change he inspects my system - I pay for the oil change and not a cent more - good to have friends that KNOW cars.

I DO appreciate the advice and the sarcasm is noted -
Thanks

 

[jimfitzgerald]

Sounds like a leak in the line from the tranny cooler to the tranny.

 

[Rickey_Bobby]

Coming soon, Supercharger - let me know if you hear of any good deals!

Vortech V-2 SQ. $1,900

 

[Rickey_Bobby]

cracked manifold, leaking manifold gasket, or broker coolant line that runs from the front to rear of the block inside the "V" under the intake.

Take a light and see if the "V" of the block under the intake is wet, if it is, Pull the intake manifold and go from there.

Did you re-use the re-usable intake gaskets on your engine rebuild? if so, Replace them.

 

[LaserRed01GT]

My guess would be either a IM gasket or a heater hose since it's leaking that far back.

The only thing that runs through the trans cooler lines from the trans to the stacked plate core (trans cooler) is transmission fluid. If the stacked plate core were damaged the engine coolant and trans fluid could be mixing, but it wouldn't look green anymore.

 

[tmoneyballin]

Had a pressure test done and everything seems to be working fine...possible "problems" would be my coolant leaking in from two weeks ago when we unhooked the radiator hoses to take the upper and lower intake manifolds off to fix other problems - thats what the guy said was his honest opinion knowing most similar siuations. He said going up the hill and then shutting the car off could be enough for it to finally drain the excess in or arouind the block - again all the pressure test's indicated everything was working well. Other potential problems he suggested would be the o ring on the pump at the back of the water pump, or the pipe from the water pump to the heater hose...I did reuse the lower intake manifold gasket - but it was in very good shape and we had 3 people make sure we meshed and bolted the lower intake down flush with the gasket - torques all the screws to proper specs. The main point here is something caused the antifreeze to leake ALL AT ONCE this isn't a gradual drip as I go down the street - the pressure test confirmed for the most part that the car should be working under normal pressure without leaks - I don't think the car is currently leaking antifreeze at this point in time and if it is - it is very small and unnoticeable.


Either way he said and I agreed with my friends that I should just monitor the levels constanty to make sure eveything is legit!

Let me know if this helps - the fluid was draining down from somewhere on the pasernger side of the oil pan and seemed to not cause a problem anymore - so it happened once and released a good amount of fluid.

 

[tmoneyballin]

So should I follow the mechanic's "honest opinion" of the fluid being neon green(not contaminated obviously), the system holding pressure (he checked twice) and just MONITOR the coolant fluid level at operating and cold conditions? He said he would NOT honestly go into the intake manifold unless he saw more signs of consistent coolant leakage. Reason being it did it ONCE dumped a lot of coolant and hasn't done it since (over 100 miles since I replenished the coolant/water).

What do you guys think?

Thanks!

 

[LaserRed01GT]

It's possible that your motor got hot and caused that leak. I would check your t-stat just to make sure. If you have any doubts, just replace it.

 

[tmoneyballin]

Thanks for the thermostat tip - what I think I will do is just monitor the car and watch for sudden changes in temperature and coolant levels and/or leaks. I don't think it's worth ripping my engine apart again just to stare at some hoses that are probably fine based on the pressure check. But hey what do I know?

Is there a general way to "check" the health of my thermostat - or is it more does your car run hot or cold? My temp is usually right in the middle of the gauge - never too much on the hot side even after driving for an hour.

 

[Yellow2002GT]

It only costs a few dollars and takes 15 mins to change out......I would start there......I had it happend to me before.....

"ED"

 

[LaserRed01GT]

Thanks for the thermostat tip - what I think I will do is just monitor the car and watch for sudden changes in temperature and coolant levels and/or leaks. I don't think it's worth ripping my engine apart again just to stare at some hoses that are probably fine based on the pressure check. But hey what do I know?

Is there a general way to "check" the health of my thermostat - or is it more does your car run hot or cold? My temp is usually right in the middle of the gauge - never too much on the hot side even after driving for an hour.

Well the thing is the PCM gets a fairly accurate coolant reading, the gauge in your cluster does not. I wouldn't put much faith in your stock engine water temp gauge.

T-stats can stick and prevent coolant from properly circulating and cause hot spots especially in the heads.

Like Ed mentioned, they are very cheap and easy to install.

 

[tmoneyballin]

Are we talking I can stop off at like autozone or advanced auto parts on the way home or do I have to special order it - to be honest I have never researched the fundamentals of t-stats...Any rookie advice? What kind? etc.?

 

[LaserRed01GT]

If you are going to a parts store it will be:

MOTORCRAFT Part # RT1178 (SOHC)
MOTORCRAFT Part # RT1110 (DOHC)