I was stopped at the lights yesterday and i noticed steam coming from under the hood. I drove the rest of the way home (1km maybe) and checked what was happening. It looks like coolant is leaking from the rear of the engine on the passenger side near the battery. I checked the coolant level in the radiator but it seems fine (albeit dirty and in need of a coolant flush). As far as I can tell, the leak seems to be coming from this area: http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/4538/zed.jpg Note: My car is a 1990 NA Jspec and i'm pretty sure that pic is a LHD TT
Was it definitely coolant? Air con drain is around there and may have been dripping, if a/c was in use. Steam may be from a minor coolant weep under plenum. A pressure test may reveal location.
Well it's dirty like my coolant and my air-con Compressor is seized and as such, been bypassed. I haven't used the air-con (obviously since it doesn't work) since the day I bought the car
Any radiator shop can do a pressure test to confirm the leak but most likely an under-plenum hose if on passenger side.
There's only 2-3 coolant hoses in that area, so it shouldn't be too hard to track down. Just wipe the area down then get a few clean tissues / rags and wrap them around the hoses. And if you can, get some spare hose and put one end to your ear and the other probing around the area - you may hear hissing. Cheers Greg.
From experience, when one of those hoses start to leak, all the hoses around the back there are in pretty shady shape. Fix one, the next one along the line springs a leak, and so on and so forth. So, to save you time, and headache, either replace or bypass. If your short on time or tools to pull the plenum, bypass them around the plenum.
You make a few solid points there. I have access to a number of tools and I have the weekend to myself. I'm short on the knowledge/confidence to fix it myself however. I'll read through the tech articles and take it from there. Free beer to anyone who wants to help this weekend
Nope, I'm not a big fan of beer actually Well Cornubia is nowhere near where I am or will be going on the weekend. So sorry, no helps from Chrispy
It's dropped about a ltr of coolant since this morning (the radiator level was way down). I've got to get to work tomorrow however, if i keep topping it up, will it hold out? Obviously it's not ideal, but theres not much i can do until the weekend. Any ideas?
It's only gonna get worse. IMHO if you drive it, it could be very BAD. A taxi\bus\train ride is a lot cheaper than a new head.
