Coolant Leak

[jduncan]

Hello Everyone, quuick question, I have been leaking a bit of coolant for the past month or so, so went to a small shop to get it looked at. We did a pressure test on it and nothing leaked out, so we just did a quick drain and refill becasue the coolant was very dirty and went on my way. That was about 2 weeks ago. Recently coming to my car in the morning i see a small puddle of green coolant underneath the car. It looks like its coming somewhere from the middle of the engine but im not totaly sure. One thing i do hear quite often is a steady ticking/dripping noise after driving the car a while and parking it for the night. Anyone have any ideas?

[bank2me]

Check your hoses for any leaks. Look at your oil too to see if it is discolored (bad head gasket). Does the car smoke at all? Look under the car after its been sittin a bit and try to locate it that way.

[jduncan]

would I be able to see any leakes if we did the pressure test on the the rad?
i jsut did an oil change as well, didnt see any discolouration.

[Vanilla Sky]

Was your heater on when you did the pressure test? Was it off? Perhaps it's either your heater core or your bypass hose causing the leak. Both of those would be in the middle of your firewall.

[jduncan]

heater was defiently off at that point, do you suggest doing the pressure test again with it on full blast?

[w261w261]

I guess it's kind of cold there to be working outside. Do you know how much fluid you're losing? Are you watching the level in the overflow bottle? A small leak can foretell something bigger, and you don't want to have that happen if possible. Can you get to a lift to get under it? How about those ramps to let you crawl under and inspect? You should be able to see where it's coming from. There's a water manifold under the back part of the engine that rusts, also there's a small hose on that manifold. There's the water pump. Maybe just a swollen hose leaking at the clamp. Time for some inspection.

[jduncan]

its kinda hard to say exactly how much im loosing right now, i need to put a catch basin underneath to see, i could probaly get access to a lift, wont be until monday or so, so im guess im stuck with topping up until then.

[2oodoor]

Was your heater on when you did the pressure test? Was it off? Perhaps it's either your heater core or your bypass hose causing the leak. Both of those would be in the middle of your firewall.

Excellent suggestion!

[Dr_Snooz]

You might want to look for that leak sooner rather than later. It could be a hose getting ready to burst. If it does, you'll be stranded.

[G. White]

Perhaps the weep hole on the water pump. When it warms up after driving the seals in the water pump expand and seal tight. When it gets cold the seals shrink back down and cause a leak leaving a puddle under the car every night. If you pressure checked it at the shop it was probably hot and sealed, not producing a leak. Just a thought.

[russiankid]

Perhaps the weep hole on the water pump. When it warms up after driving the seals in the water pump expand and seal tight. When it gets cold the seals shrink back down and cause a leak leaving a puddle under the car every night. If you pressure checked it at the shop it was probably hot and sealed, not producing a leak. Just a thought.

Water pumps weep when worn out. If it was his pump it would do it when hot too, at least mine did.

[G. White]

Water pumps weep when worn out. If it was his pump it would do it when hot too, at least mine did.

Mine didn't

[jduncan]

i just went down to my car after a few days expecting to see a huge puddle underneath the car, and i didnt see anything..could it have leaked on sunday and by tuesday stopped leaking and dried up?, how owuld i check to see if ut is th water pumps weep?

[jduncan]

i think i know exactly where th eleak is coming from. i took a picture with my cell phone but it isnt clear, but it looks like (and excuse my lack of technical termonalogy) but it look slike a leak has sprung right undeneath where the thorttle cable is attached to the thing on the intake. I dontk nwo what it is calle but it is the thing in which you can rev the engine by turning it underneath the hood, right to the bottom rght of that there was a leak almsot shooting straight up, looks like some sort of connecting pipe there that has maybe rusted and sprung a leak? an ideas on what the fix is?

[VIPER1988]

you could get another metal one from a junk yard or remove the metal piece and replace with high temp silicone hose which is what i did.

[russiankid]

Do you have an LX-i or DX/LX?

[mattr89lxi]

hey on thanksgiving i blew my radiator n fluid went everywhere! fixed it today n got home but was seeing lil bit of smoke coming from around radiator area bottom. could this be just the old fluid burning off from when it blew up? i need to kno so i can take it back to mechanic tomarrow...

[jduncan]

its a lx-i ..f/i

[jduncan]

does anyone have a temp fix for this so i can drive it over to my mechanics?, maybe a 15 min ride.

[1987AccordLx-i]

does anyone have a temp fix for this so i can drive it over to my mechanics?, maybe a 15 min ride.

is there anyway you can take a pic of the part leaking? it would be helpfull for us to get a better description.. but from what your saying.. it sounds like its the tiny hoses under the throttle body (part the cable hooks up to rev it)

[jduncan]

i ust got back from the mecancs shop, it defiently was the tiny hose under the throttle body, we replaced it and i took it for a longer driv to see if everything is working well, seems good, however iafter the ride i parked it and looked under the hood and i didnt see any mor coolant spraying, but i did hear this ticking sound that i have been hearing for while. it usually happens after drivin for a bit, it sounds like either the sounds a clock makes when the second hand is moving but about 5 or 6 ticks per second, or sounds like maybe maybe when ur tap is leaking and you hear the drops hitting the sink...any ideas aout that?

[1987AccordLx-i]

i ust got back from the mecancs shop, it defiently was the tiny hose under the throttle body, we replaced it and i took it for a longer driv to see if everything is working well, seems good, however iafter the ride i parked it and looked under the hood and i didnt see any mor coolant spraying, but i did hear this ticking sound that i have been hearing for while. it usually happens after drivin for a bit, it sounds like either the sounds a clock makes when the second hand is moving but about 5 or 6 ticks per second, or sounds like maybe maybe when ur tap is leaking and you hear the drops hitting the sink...any ideas aout that?

thats good to hear about the throttle body.. so thats all clear?

well the ticking your hearing is what im pretty sure is the exhaust system settling after being really hot.. its normal.. you shouldnt worry about that

[jduncan]

yeh the leaking seems to be clear, im going later to see if it has saolved the problem

and i hope its the exhaus settling, i know ive heard click before, bu never such high paced ticking

[1987AccordLx-i]

yeh the leaking seems to be clear, im going later to see if it has saolved the problem

and i hope its the exhaus settling, i know ive heard click before, bu never such high paced ticking

thats good..

is the engine off when it does this?

[jduncan]

yeh its off, usually happens after drving for a while