Car over heating and weird coolant leak

[El3ments]

I recently purchased a 1990 Nissan 240sx 5 speed with 155k miles on it.

It drove fine for a few days however one day I drove it for 20 minutes or so and when I parked it I saw some steam and smelled coolant. Coolant was sprayed all of the engine. I believe the fan caused this. I put coolant in the car but I could never find a leak. The next day after driving for 20 minutes the car started to over heat. It had used up all of the coolant in the over flow tank and it took about two gallons of coolant to fill it back up.

Here is the strange part. I finally drove it to work again after this started happening. I put coolant in it before I left to top of the reservoir. When I got to work it hardly used any of it but I topped it off again. When I put coolant int he reservoir coolant poured out near the front of the engine. I still have not found where the exact leak is.

Any ideas? I need to figure out where the leak is so I know what to replace. What would make the car only leak when it gets hot? Is the water pump or thermostat out?

- Car has heat- Only leaks when hot- Leaks some where near the front of the engine

Another issue it is having is that it keeps dieing on me. I put a new battery in it a few days ago and it just died again. The alternator tested good at an autoparts store. Is it possible coolant is getting on the belt and causing it to slip or something? Just wondering it these issues are related. They both occurred on the same day.

Thank you for any and all help.

[OutToWinPAHC]

Some autoparts stores lend pressure tester, it comees with instructions. Check the radiator for cracks or hoses, tighten clamps, check overflow lines and tank. If they are all good try replacing the cap and t-stat, refill and bleed properly.

[El3ments]

Unfortunately, when the car over heated it made a slight crack in the radiator due to the pressure build up. Pressure testing won't find the initial problem now.

What are the symptoms of a bad water pump?

[sx moneypit]

The water pump has a weep hole behind the water pump pulley,if the pump is bad it will be leaking there.Also grab the fan and wiggle it to see if it has excessive play.

[frapjap]

3 places/things to check on- and they're all simple.

1. Jack up the car and inspect the radiator hoses and their attachment points at the radiator and engine. Look for bulging, leaks, or an apparent bad hose. 2. The radiator. As previously mentioned, because it overheated, you may have cracked the radiator. You may need a new one. Cracks will be hard to see.3. Waterpump. As previously mentioned, look for the weep hole and see where it is leaking.

A cool tip if you/re still lost- a black light will show where coolant has been and might be leaking from. If you REALLY can't find your leak (and you should be able to, it sounds large) pull out the black light and look for the source.

[El3ments]

Ok thanks guys. I will be jacking the car up soon. I will let you know.

[El3ments]

Car finally works! I test drove the crap out of it

The car overheated and made a leak in the radiator hose near the engine. I do not know if it already had a leak or not but when the coolant turned to steam the pressure caused a bad leak. Half a gallon every 8 miles. I replaced the coolant lines which fixed the leak. However the car still over heated and lost power. I purchased a new battery to resolve the power issues however the batter died a week later. I changed out the thermostat to fix the over heating but unfortunately there was nothing wrong with the previous one.

The issue was the alternator belt was severely worn and loose. The belt runs the alternator, water pump and cooling fan. This caused both issues. Now that it is replaced the car has no issues.