medwar11

iTrader: (7)

My wife and I came home from dinner the other night and I smelled that 'burning coolant smell' after pulling in the garage. I raised the hood, thought the plastic above the radiator was a little hotter than usual. Then looked under the car and noticed a steady drip. (This is with the engine off) I jacked up the front a little to get a better look and could see that it was coming from the water pump. After doing a little research I'm thinking it was coming from the "weep hole". Web resources (along with Haynes manual) say that if its leaking from the weep hole then you need a new pump.

Why I think it started... When changing my oil last week I noticed the coolant was low. Well, the little coolant that was on the dip stick looked green to me, so without thinking, I added some green coolant/water I had in the garage. I realized the mistake I made when the coolant dripping from the water pump had a orange/pink tint (Dex Cool). I then confirmed that the car is suppose to take Dex Cool in the manual . I would have normally made sure but I couldve sworn the little coolant that was on the stick was green.

Anyways, I ran the car for just a few minutes today to see if I could see the leak again, no leak, but it also didnt get very hot at all.

Sorry this was long, but, what do you guys think? New pump? Or maybe just try complete flush and fill first and see if its still leaking? Anyone else made this mistake, and care to admit it? Anyone have a good pump laying around they would sell?

Grimes

iTrader: (3)

I ran pure green stuff a while back, and it won't cause your wp to leak. It may just be that it was time for it to go. I'd just replace the pump, flush the system with water a couple times, then refill with dexcool

TheBlurLS1

iTrader: (8)

Pump is probably going bad.

I would use this as a great time to do a nice cleaning/flush job on the system. I outlined a pretty good process for it in this thread (post #19)...

https://ls1tech.com/forums/generation-iii-external-engine/476478-dex-cool-coolant.html

There's more information on page 2 about cleaning out the overflow tank and such. Hope this helps!

medwar11

iTrader: (7)

Yeh you guys may be right... Just odd that it was a week after I mixed them. I read that mixing can definitely cause problems, however it seems like it would take longer than a week for those to develop.

I also noticed, that night it was leaking pretty good, it was only when the engine was off. I think when it was on, it created a vacuum and didnt leak.