Strange coolant leak

[DanQ]

Hello All,

I've searched the board and haven't found my scenario.
I noticed yesterday that there was some coolant underneath the passenger side of the car seeming to have come from the area around the exhaust pipes just under where the glove compartment lines up with them. I drove around for a few more hours running errands and never saw a leak again. This morning I started up the car and got the Coolant Level warning message. Checked it out and the reservoir is empty. Now looking through the diagrams for the cooling system and looking at the car, I cannot figure out how coolant would leak from the area where I saw the puddle.
Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Kalevera]

Dan - not sure if you have the expansion tank at the back of the car? When my firewall mounted tank overflows (aka - huge air pocket in the system, as it had when I bled it on friday), it has a drain pipe of sorts that exits underneath the ebox/right next to the headers. Then, the coolant streams down the engine compartment and onto the road :(

Not sure why your car lost so much coolant, but I'd check it out.

Good luck!

Best, whit

[wengenstein]

The M50 has the expansion tank right next to the radiator in front of the engine compartment, so it's probably not the bleeder hose..(That was the first thing I thought of too though :) )


Dan - not sure if you have the expansion tank at the back of the car? When my firewall mounted tank overflows (aka - huge air pocket in the system, as it had when I bled it on friday), it has a drain pipe of sorts that exits underneath the ebox/right next to the headers. Then, the coolant streams down the engine compartment and onto the road :(

Not sure why your car lost so much coolant, but I'd check it out.

Good luck!

Best, whit

[Bill R.]

Hello All,

I've searched the board and haven't found my scenario.
I noticed yesterday that there was some coolant underneath the passenger side of the car seeming to have come from the area around the exhaust pipes just under where the glove compartment lines up with them. I drove around for a few more hours running errands and never saw a leak again. This morning I started up the car and got the Coolant Level warning message. Checked it out and the reservoir is empty. Now looking through the diagrams for the cooling system and looking at the car, I cannot figure out how coolant would leak from the area where I saw the puddle.
Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any help.
heater and the A/c evaporator are right in about that area...Are you sure it was coolant and not condensation..IF you've been running the defroster then the compressor could be running and it could have been condensation draining

[DanQ]

Thx for the replies.

Bill, It was the nice pretty green stuff. Maybe a cup of it max but enough to notice it. I suspect that it may have been leaking for quite some time. I guess I'll be in for a heater core change sometime soon.

[Bill R.]

Thx for the replies.

Bill, It was the nice pretty green stuff. Maybe a cup of it max but enough to notice it. I suspect that it may have been leaking for quite some time. I guess I'll be in for a heater core change sometime soon.

smell the maple syrup kinda smell when the heaters on? if so then its definitely heater core..

[DanQ]

I didn't smell any coolant and there was no liquid from the vents. Could there be a leak from something else?

[DanQ]

It appears that the heater core is one piece with the connections and the only thing that goes into the cabin. So this has to be the only thing that could leak to where I saw the puddle. I'll get the core and swap it out soon.

Thanks for everyone's help.