19blackta98

I am leaking coolant. Can't figure out where from. Once I noticed I change both upper and lower hoses and put a new O ring in the thermostat. It is dripping and hitting everything so I can't locate where its coming from. I beleive it is coming from somewher on the lower half of the engine. I rulled out the raditor and hoses. Any advice?

Tried searching but can't find anything.

robsquikz28

iTrader: (246)

pressure test the system

19blackta98

I feel stupid asking, but whats the best way to do that?

Also could it be the water pump?

stfuad

It may be.

To pressure test you need to buy a testing kit, it's a pump and adapter for the radiator fill hole.

needadvice

I think the bottom of the water pump starts leaking when the seal goes.

19blackta98

needadvice, I was thinking the same. I went ahead and bought the water pump, got one from auto zone. It was cheap I hope it is okay in quality. Thanks for all the help. Wish me luck.

needadvice

Those water pumps are just fine.

7camaro7

iTrader: (15)

I had a similar problem and it just ended up being one of my gaskets

MrEddie

I had a little leak from the pump - it could have just been the gasket, but I went ahead and replaced the pump and thermostat. LS1howto.com has a great write up!

Crimsonnaire

iTrader: (1)

Is coolant supposed to leak out if you have a LOT of it poured in?

Someone from Pep Boys mentioned to me that there's a line that's specifically designed to release coolant if there's too much.

Is it harmful if you have too much in the tank/reservior?

7camaro7

iTrader: (15)

the difference between me and you is I put my $250+ back in my pocket and only spend between $7-$10 to fix my problem

it is NOT supposed to be leaking. The reservoir is the overflow. When its too hot in the radiator, it is supposed to just go to the over flow. I wouldn't over fill the reservoir because when the fluid needs to escape the radiator it probably won't have enough room to cool in the reservoir, because it will over flow the overflow.

btw always double check those pepboys/valvoline/pennzoil/anybody when they tell you something. glad you checked with us!

SSNISTR

iTrader: (10)

But the difference between you and him is that when your water pump goes, which it will you will ahve to do all that work again.

If I had to change the water pump gasket, I would have changed the pump as well while I was at it. The pump is only $150. And it's a good piece of mind!

7camaro7

iTrader: (15)

I had the gm pump. being a college student, money is a lot more valuable than time. I haven't heard of many ls1 water pumps going out. actually I've never heard of it. The work was easy though! The hardest part and most time consuming was the flush I did. I could probably take my time and swap water pumps in like 30 min or less. all you gotta do is drain radiator, take off the airbox, take belts off, disconnect hoses, take water pump off, put new one on, and work your way backwards.

seriously 30minutes... that's nothing. I'll walk away with my $250 dollars and get the most use out of the pump I've already got. I haven't had a problem since and that happened last year.

Crimsonnaire

iTrader: (1)

A mechanic recently told me that coolant reserviors have "peep holes" that release excess fluid.

I imagine this might not be the case with all vehicles, though.

SSNISTR

iTrader: (10)

You mean "weep" holes, and if yours is weeping, it's telling you it is on its way out.

7camaro7

iTrader: (15)

as far as I know it's not the reservoir that has the weep hole, its the pump. I've seen a reservoir overflow before, so that would tell me they have no weep hole.

SSNISTR

iTrader: (10)

Oh, my bad, I thought you said pump. Guess I read your post too quick lol.

weasle

I had the same problem last year, I replaced the pump with one from autozone (and the thermostat too just for peace of mind) and no more problems.

Crimsonnaire

iTrader: (1)

Under what other circumstances besides overflowing could the coolant weep out of the holes?

SSNISTR

iTrader: (10)

If coolant is coming out of the pumps weep hole, it's on it's way out. Not overfilled.