Coolant leak parked in the cold

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OCDriver

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Apr 13, 2016
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Canada
02 Honda Civic SiR.

Bloody Canadian winter is here again. I noticed a coolant leak last year when it got pretty cold, leaked about 30mL (1 fl oz) a day when the temps dropped to -30C (-22F). I'm not sure if it's getting worse or if I'm misremembering, but it hit -16C (3F) last night and I found a small puddle of coolant the same place beneath my car this morning.

I'm going to try and get under the car and check for a source of the leak this afternoon. What should I all look for?

- loose or misaligned hose clamps
- cracked water hoses
- cracks in radiator or water pump
 
I don't know much about that particular car, but it's common for the factory spring-clamps to rust out and not clamp anymore. I've had it happen on 3 different vehicles, all different makes. I'd squeeze the clamp to loosen it, and it would just break in half.

I always recommend using a cooling system pressure tester to find leaks. It makes finding them 1000x easier.
 
I replaced the radiator in my Mazda Protege a while back. It initially would only leak on cold days when the temp was below about 15F, then after a couple years it started to leak even on warm days. The leak was were the aluminum core was attached to the plastic side tanks.
 
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If it were a clamp or cracked hose, I'd have expected it to continue leaking and get worse the whole time, not stop until it was cold again. I would first look at the water pump weep hole and suspect that its seal has hardened and further so when it gets cold.

If you cannot locate the leak then you can get coolant dye, then spot the leak with a UV light.
 
Peak pressure in most cars is after shutdown (with no circulation) after a hot drive. You may very well not find anything if you just start it up in the driveway.

IIRC, on those cars, the water pump is driven off of the timing belt, which itself is covered up with a bunch of covers. If its never had a timing belt service....
 
Back when I lived in Illinois, my Kawasaki 1300 Voyager, (in line 6 cylinder), would have a small coolant leak on the left side of the engine right at the cylinder head gasket, when the temperature got below 20F. It never got into the cylinders, so I lived with it. The bike was in an attached garage, so it's doubtful it ever got below freezing.

As soon as I started it and it warmed up it stopped. Shortly after that we moved out here to Arizona, and it never leaked again. Living in Illinois, every coolant leak I ever had on any car always occurred in the Winter. Never in the Summer. Radiators, heater cores, water pumps, thermostat housings, hose connections, name it. When it got cold, they leaked.

Your engine sits in below freezing temperatures and everything contracts. Hoses get hard and stiff. 10 minutes after you start it up, it's almost at the boiling point, and everything expands, softens, and seals. Frankly, I'm surprised more things don't leak in that God awful climate.

If it's not too bad, I would just keep an eye on it. If it develops into a major leak, then you are stuck with repairing it. But if you can nurse it until the warmer weather then deal with it, it will make for a more pleasant job. Nothing is worse than working on a car in sub zero weather. Even heated garages don't warm that much in those conditions. Of course, if you're going to hire it out, then it doesn't matter.
 
Cold seems to exacerbate hose and clamp failures, brittle materials plus expansion and contraction are what they are. I am replacing the hoses, thermostat and clamps on the G37's in the next day or two for similar reasons. As others said the system only builds peak pressure when the car is first shut off due to heat soak. On the bright side, the hoses on your Honda lasted a decade longer then the ones on my tarted up Nissan.
 
I had the water pump leak on a VW 1.8T a few winters ago when we took it up to northern Quebec for -30 degree days.

I'd dump a gallon into the car, and drive as quickly as possible until the block heated up and the leak stopped. Wasn't a huge deal once everything was hot, but it was pretty much streaming on first startup.

I ended up replacing the water pump gasket and everything went back to normal. Granted I bought probably 10 gallons of Pentosin during that trip...
 
Originally Posted by spavel6
I had the water pump leak on a VW 1.8T a few winters ago when we took it up to northern Quebec for -30 degree days.

I'd dump a gallon into the car, and drive as quickly as possible until the block heated up and the leak stopped. Wasn't a huge deal once everything was hot, but it was pretty much streaming on first startup.

I ended up replacing the water pump gasket and everything went back to normal. Granted I bought probably 10 gallons of Pentosin during that trip...

Yeah, but you didn't need your coolant changed afterwards
grin2.gif
 
What billt said. Cold water leak. Eyeball it closely the next time you notice it leaking before starting the engine. It could be something as simple as tightening a hose clamp or replacing a hose.
 
On the Dakota it was a worm clamp.. Changed it out for the factory style spring clamp and solved the problem. Whenever it would heat up and cool down it would leak and that's the only time.
 
So, I opened up the plastic covers underneath the bumper and it turns out it's actually a washer fluid leak (different colour fluid and the bottom of the washer fluid reservoir is wet).

Although I'm reasonably certain I'll get a coolant leak when it gets super cold. Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll keep an eye on it.
 
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