Suspicious Coolant Leak!!!

Originally Posted by Mark325i

Done. Picked up the $2.39 pack of assorted O-rings from Autozone and all's well. Thanks for the valuable info.
Mark

Hope one fits. I know the 'intake air temp sensor' o-ring is the same as on the cooling temp sensor, but otherwise isn't available as a 'part.' If you get the IAT sensor 0-ring, it will fit...just in case one of your ass't o-rings doesn't.

Sorry to thread jack but how does one pressure check the cooling system?

Originally Posted by mujjuman

Sorry to thread jack but how does one pressure check the cooling system?

Easiest would be to start the car and wait until it gets to op temp and look.

I'm sure you could also just get a cap to fit on ET that has a fitting for adding pressure to the system...or you could make one from old ET cap.

Don't got above 1.5 bar or so...the cap blows at 2 bar for a reason.

It'd make it easier to find leaks if you added a uv dye and looked with appropriate flashlight and glasses...shops will have this stuff.

If you have a leak, suspect ET first...and if you have a leak, fix it before driving, it could get much worse, very quickly...though some leaks do seem to stay stable...WP, radiator, Therm...if any of them are leaking, they might stay on the slowish side of leaking and you could drive a little with them like that, but you need to monitor the fluid level...and do that when the car is cool. (Didn't know if you knew!)

That's a start...are you overheating, frequently adding coolant? Replaced everything in the system but the radiator? (My radiator blew at around 185K miles or so)

Originally Posted by dmax

Easiest would be to start the car and wait until it gets to op temp and look.

I'm sure you could also just get a cap to fit on ET that has a fitting for adding pressure to the system...or you could make one from old ET cap.

Don't got above 1.5 bar or so...the cap blows at 2 bar for a reason.

It'd make it easier to find leaks if you added a uv dye and looked with appropriate flashlight and glasses...shops will have this stuff.

If you have a leak, suspect ET first...and if you have a leak, fix it before driving, it could get much worse, very quickly...though some leaks do seem to stay stable...WP, radiator, Therm...if any of them are leaking, they might stay on the slowish side of leaking and you could drive a little with them like that, but you need to monitor the fluid level...and do that when the car is cool. (Didn't know if you knew!)

That's a start...are you overheating, frequently adding coolant? Replaced everything in the system but the radiator? (My radiator blew at around 185K miles or so)

Thanks!!! I borrowed a pressure tester from autozone and placed it on the ET and put pressure... I expected coolant to leak out from somewhere but it didn't. I'm probably doing it wrong or expecting different results.

I notice a small pool of coolant under the passenger side of my hood. It seems like it's coming from the t-stat or the hose that connects to it. I replaced my cooling system a couple months ago or so. It never overheated according to my coolant temp gauge and I have to add a bit of coolant every couple weeks.

Originally Posted by mujjuman

Thanks!!! I borrowed a pressure tester from autozone and placed it on the ET and put pressure... I expected coolant to leak out from somewhere but it didn't. I'm probably doing it wrong or expecting different results.

I notice a small pool of coolant under the passenger side of my hood. It seems like it's coming from the t-stat or the hose that connects to it. I replaced my cooling system a couple months ago or so. It never overheated according to my coolant temp gauge and I have to add a bit of coolant every couple weeks.

On pass side, it could be from therm or lower radiator hose, but I think another good bet is the temp sensor o-ring...attaching to the lower hose.

The intake air temp sensor o-ring is an exact match for the coolant temp sensor.

And guys replace them and plug it back in while plugging the hole with their finger..something like that. I haven't done it.

xl50 can help you find leak!