Bad coolant leak

[Barkleymut]

2001 Chrysler T&C, we are looking to replace this vehicle very soon so the cheaper and easier on this fix the better.

Yesterday I parked the car in my driveway and smelled antifreeze, heard running water and looked under the car and it was leaking really bad. I let it cool down and then poured some water in the radiator and it started leaking again really bad (it looks like 5 or 6 faucets are on a very small amount, much more than dripping but certainly not wide open...sorry that is the best analogy I can think of).

I am guessing and it is only a guess that since it leaks without the engine on that it is not an intake manifold gasket leak. Probably a hose leak?? I felt the lower hose and followed it until it went up into an area where my hand couldn't fit and I could not see up there. It looked like the leak was occuring about 6 inches towards the rear of the van from that.

Any ideas? I have googled and bitoged everything I could think of....

 

[Zaedock]

If it's leaking that much, you're going to have to just crawl under and look. There's not much else we can do for an internet diagnosis. Definitely don't drive it.

 

[Barkleymut]

dont worry she isnt going anywhere. i cannot jack it up much sincit is on a slight hill. just wondering if there was a known failure point on these. seems the intake gaskets tend to go bad, but would it leak with the engine off?

 

[KB2008X]

You don't have to jack it up to figure out where it's leaking. Get an inspection mirror, a good source of light, fill it with water and figure it out. Ask the questions after you know what's leaking. You'd already know the cause by now if you'd just stop procrastinating via the internet.

 

[Doog]

Sounds like a coolant hose or the radiator itself.

 

[The_Eric]

Water pump, radiator, hose or timing cover are known leak points. Some 3.3s had a steel water pipe under the engine that would leak too. The lower radiator hose attaches to it.

 

[Chris142]

Check that long bypass hose thats behind the ac and alt bracket

 

[eljefino]

Do you have rear heat? The pipes for that like to rot.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

Originally Posted By: Barkleymut
2001 Chrysler T&C, we are looking to replace this vehicle very soon so the cheaper and easier on this fix the better.

Yesterday I parked the car in my driveway and smelled antifreeze, heard running water and looked under the car and it was leaking really bad. I let it cool down and then poured some water in the radiator and it started leaking again really bad (it looks like 5 or 6 faucets are on a very small amount, much more than dripping but certainly not wide open...sorry that is the best analogy I can think of).

I am guessing and it is only a guess that since it leaks without the engine on that it is not an intake manifold gasket leak. Probably a hose leak?? I felt the lower hose and followed it until it went up into an area where my hand couldn't fit and I could not see up there. It looked like the leak was occuring about 6 inches towards the rear of the van from that.

Any ideas? I have googled and bitoged everything I could think of....


Where is the leak? Under the engine? Left side or right side? near the left rear wheel? Somewhere in between? The return hose from the heating system goes directly to the water pump at the right front of the van. Leaking valve covers will allow oil to get on the small hose there and cause it to rot. Any leak between the back of the engine and the left rear wheel will be in the lines that feed the rear heater. There are hoses and metal lines involved. A leak like you describe will likely be a broken hose. The van will have to be lifted, jacked, hoisted so it can be inspected. If the leak is in the right front area of the engine, it will likely be at the water pump, either the big hose, or the small one. Or possibly the water pump itself.

Good luck,

Wayne

 

[Barkleymut]

Originally Posted By: KB2008X
You don't have to jack it up to figure out where it's leaking. Get an inspection mirror, a good source of light, fill it with water and figure it out. Ask the questions after you know what's leaking. You'd already know the cause by now if you'd just stop procrastinating via the internet.


It is raining and 40 degrees and I don't own and inspection mirror and I have been at work all day...just looking for ideas

 

[Barkleymut]

The leak is very near the water pump, that is what I suspected if it was not a hose. I have never seen a bad water pump but always heard that the pulley would be easy to move side to side. The water pump on this one the pulley seems very solid. And the leak is pretty close to the passenger side front tire, and from what I can tell it is very near the bottom of the engine.

I may just say to heck with it and try this quick fix. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOVYcqZgJEM I read on two different sites that it works everytime.

 

[The_Eric]

With the belt still installed, the bearings may not show any slop- even if they are toast.

 

[KB2008X]

Water pumps have a shaft seal that is designed to begin to leak coolant out of the weep hole, just below the shaft, when the bearings start to go bad. Sometimes that seal will start to leak all on it's own with no bearing issues, other times it won't leak until the shaft is ready to fall out of the pump. 99% of the time the seal fails like it should and you have the warning that you need to get the pump replaced before something more catastrophic happens. So, when that seal leaks the pulley won't necessarily be sloppy. Sometimes the play at the pulley will be so slight that you can hardly tell, and that's how it's supposed to work. You want it to leak before the shaft bearings get so bad that the pulley is sloppy.

If the pump is bad it is a difficult job to do without the vehicle being on a lift. It can be done on the ground, but do yourself a favor and don't even try it.

Sometimes the gasket that seals the water pump body to the water pump housing can leak, but that is typically more of a drip and not a deluge like you described in the first post.

The steel pipe that the lower radiator hose connects to has a gasket where it attaches to the bottom of the water pump housing and that can leak, also.

 

[artificialist]

Usually when I see a car leaks like that, it is a cracked radiator. However, since I can't actually be there, I couldn't really be sure of that.

Also, check every single plastic piece in the cooling system. Most of them are weak.

 

[Barkleymut]

It is definetly not the radiator, I am starting to think it may be the water pump since it has been leaking just a little for a while. I thought it was just a pinhole leak in the radiator but the whole weep hole is sounding much more likely now.

A plastic piece or hose near the water pump is also very possible. At this point I don't care because the wife has determined with her vast automotive knowledge that the car is not safe or reliable anymore. I have gotten my money out of it, paid $12,000 with 30k, it now has 121k and has a $400 scrap value.Just glad we didn't replace the almost bald tires once we started getting snow

 

[Barkleymut]

btw, we had a dealer offer $600 for it as a trade in before the coolant leak. I asked for more and he said he would search around to see if he knew anyone that was looking for an 01 Dodge van with bald tires... and then kind of smiled. I have to admit, that was pretty darned funny.