89 GL coolant leak

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Doug - 22 Jul 2006 00:31 GMT

I discovered a small puddle of coolant underneath the front area of the
block. The puddle appears infrequently and the coolant overflow level drops
slowly. I had my garage conduct a pressure test and no leaks were observed.
The temperature gauge is at a normal level while driving. The car has
125,000 miles on it. Any info on why this is happening would be greatly
appreciated. Also I am considering using Bars Stop Leak to hopefully stop
the coolant leak.

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Carl 1 Lucky Texan - 22 Jul 2006 04:47 GMT

> I discovered a small puddle of coolant underneath the front area of the
> block. The puddle appears infrequently and the coolant overflow level drops
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> appreciated. Also I am considering using Bars Stop Leak to hopefully stop
> the coolant leak.

water pump?

try to clean off the underside and pinpoint where the coolant is coming from

Carl

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Victor Roberts - 22 Jul 2006 15:37 GMT

>I discovered a small puddle of coolant underneath the front area of the
>block. The puddle appears infrequently and the coolant overflow level drops
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>appreciated. Also I am considering using Bars Stop Leak to hopefully stop
>the coolant leak.

Are you sure it is a leak? I just sold my '97 OBW and the
buyer's mechanic said I had a small radiator leak, which was
a surprise to me. He showed me a small pool of liquid on
the support beam right under the radiator. I followed a
path of liquid up the side of the radiator to the top, where
it was also wet, and this area was right next to the very
small overflow hole in the front side of the coolant
reservoir. We had near record heat that day and the coolant
had expanded and a small amount of coolant had overflowed
from the reservoir. No leak..

--
Vic Roberts
Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

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Rick Courtright - 23 Jul 2006 17:59 GMT

> I discovered a small puddle of coolant underneath the front area of > the block. The puddle appears infrequently and the coolant overflow > level drops slowly.

Hi,

Is it the original water pump? Around 100k-125k miles is where I've
experienced the most leaks starting, and often they're intermittent at
first as the seal weakens but hasn't failed completely.

As the other guys said, do some detective work to see where it's coming
from to be sure: replacing a water pump's enough work you don't want to
be doing it just for diagnostics!

Rick

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Doug - 23 Jul 2006 19:37 GMT

The water pump was replaced around 20,000 miles ago. During the last leak
occurrence I observed a small drop coming out from a cover plate on the
front of the block. Not sure, but this might be where the timing belts are.
I don't know if this matters but the leaks (that I observed) occurred when
the temperature was very high. I drove the car 40 miles today with a couple
of stops and observed no leaks. The reservoir had a noticeable drop in
coolant while the radiator was full when checked this afternoon.

>> I discovered a small puddle of coolant underneath the front area of > the
>> block. The puddle appears infrequently and the coolant overflow > level
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> Rick

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