whelp, started the car up today and went for a drive.. didn't go into boost, but after a couple of minutes car started to sound rough and as i downshifted it started to backfire more.. all gauges looked normal, and temp didn't start rising.. pulled over and saw coolant leaking out the bottom.. the ast felt dry, so i don't think it went.. haven't done a comp test or anything else yet.. i'm about 1.5 miles from the house if that.. any suggestions on what's alright to get the car home aside from a tow? can i just pour reg water in for now, or just have to find somewhere closeby with distilled? or just find a place to buy some coolant (hour b4 gf gets offa work) was going to just get more coolant anyways and just refill reservoir to trace the leak..

is there anything else i should look for right off, or test for resulting damage? i think i caught it in time.. car wasn't on the road for more than 5 minutes and didn't have time to overheat.. i didn't let it sit and warmup today though.. heh.. was running late for class, so kept shifting at 3k rpm

mike

 

You can fill it with tap water as a temporary measure to find the leak.
If it's a small leak, you can limp home with the radiator cap off to keep coolant pressure for making it leak faster.

 

k, so i put more coolant in, and it looks like it's just pouring out the base of the filler neck.. the only spot leaking is to the left of the radiator, haven't pulled everything out yet.. it looks like it got coolant all into my air intake filters and air box too.. there's kind of a "bubbling" or "gurgling" noise coming from below the air box or left side of engine front.. think it could be my water pump?

mike

 

In my experience, WP leaks usually start slowly - they're not usually a gusher like you see. I'd bet the hose going to the WP (or some other hose) has a hole in it. Or maybe one of the radiator end tanks has split and is spraying that area.

The water in the intake was lucky for you - it made the car run rough, so you stopped before it overheated!

 

Not sure what to make of this, are you thinking the AST is ok because it was dry, or you don't suspect the AST of being back because it was dry ? The noise you heard in the left front of the car was boiling fluid and air in the recovery tank.

 

i'm thinking that i don't suspect the ast cracked or leaked coolant b/c it felt dry, but please, correct me if i'm thinking wrong.. so if the fluid was boiling there, where should i start to trace this leak?

mike

 

Do a cooling system pressure test - that'll reveal it. Then you won't be guessing where the leak is.

 

Took out the intercooler and air box.. looks like the hose connecting the coolant reservoir is fine and the reservoir is fine.. ast looks fine and the hoses connecting it are fine.. then the next bet would be the thermostat? also noticed that the previous owner put in a red top optima which was pushing the plastic battery tray onto the driver side fan.. the fan has chipped fins and barely turns now.. where's a good place to get a replacement fan?

mike

 

The coolant reservoir line may leak, but even if it did it would not cause a leak like you had. That needs pressure to spray it everywhere, and the coolant retunr line is not pressurized.

 

could the thermostat sticking cause that to happen though? it almost seems like it just got back pressure and pushed coolant out the overflow hole and didn't let coolant or anything go to the engine..

mike

 

Again, do a pressure test. Otherwise you are just guessing, and so are we.