So today I walked out to my car to find a wet spot under it. The cars beside me had no wet spots, so I investigated. I'm about a half inch under the minimum line on the coolant reservoir, and the leak is quite slow, but its there. I looked under the car and the radiator hoses are dry, the reservoir hoses are dry, the coolant temp is dry, but there is definitely something by the thermostat housing, not the hose leading up to it (with the large plastic peice) but the one above. Its almost tacky though, as if the coolant mixed with oil (which I also found towards the rear of the vehicle.) Anyway, multiple drips of G12 on the oil pan and it seems as if its collecting on the pan's lip. My engine is pretty dirty and its hard to tell whats what down there. I am low on oil, but the car eats oil regularly, so thats hard to say what is the cause of that. I'm going to do some further cleaning tomorrow to see if the coolant is running down the block or is coming from the thermo housing. I had a friend suggest water pump as well. Any ideas?


Finally, on a possibly unrelated note, the insides of my windows were covered in condensation, not fog, fat drops of water that i dried with a towel. The sunroof control and visors were also wet, but not as wet. I found water in the spare tire well a time ago, wondering if i may have a leak somewhere


Thanks in advance

 

Are you sure it was not from heavy petting? You did name it the "Copulation Tank".

 

Sorry man, the SexPanzer has been sitting dormant for a bit. Girlfriend and I attend different colleges, and I usually take the family van there (dubbed the *******' Wagon for its back seat bed.)

 

i would say water pump too, is your timing belt due soon? my water pump gave in right when the timing belt was due so i got lucky hehe at first it was a slow leak but with time i had to add water every 2 days or so, so i ended up just replacing the damn thing!

 

Sorry I can't help you with your questions, however, I do get "weird condensation" in my car from time to time. Usually its up behind my rearview mirror. I'm paranoid about the sunroof drains, and battery tray drain, etc. but nothing else is ever wet....

 

I just did a timing belt service and all that goes with it. Would water pump leak drip all the way at the oil pan though? Any other clues i can check to verify the water pump as the culprit? Like I said, its brand new, new seal and everything.

 

Bump bump bump. Any ideas for how to narrow down the source. Other signs of a failing/leaking water pump?

 

BUMP!

Anyone have any tips to narrow my search?

 

Grab a sizeable piece of cardboard, preferably a piece that's painted white, and put it under the engine for a while. The drip will land on there and you'll be able to see what color it is a lot easier. This will help deduce whether its coolant or oil, which will inherently help source the problem better. With regards to whats been said about the water pump, don't completely rule that out yet, even though its new. No seal, as far as I've ever heard of, is guaranteed out of the box to not fail for the life of the part itself. As for it running that far down to the oil pan: yes, it can go that far. When my WP seals finally blew a few months ago, thats exactly where I noticed the drip. When I got down and looked at it, I could trace a very nice line from the oil pan, right to the dead center of the motor and up to the pump. A few days after I noticed the drip, the seal completely toasted and I was dripping coolant like a leaky faucet, faster than I could refill the reservoir. So as it is, my money is currently on the WP with the given conditions, but that could change once you verify if it is coolant or oil that is dripping

 

It is for sure coolant, but there's a possible oil leak as well. I'll look into that water pump more, I'll take off the bumper and send out a search. Thanks for the info!