Urgent Help!!!

[laidbackblk45]

I noticed my car is leaking coolant. I saw a fairly large puddle under my car on the passenger side after it sat for a few hours. The temp in the car never went up to a high temp (otherwise I would have flat bedded the car). I did notice some spray on the engine when I put some antifreeze in it this afternoon. Also I hear some girggling sounds behind the dash when I start the car up. Could this be the bearings in the water pump? Or could this possibly be the hose clamps leaking? I definitely don't want it to overheat so I will take it to the dealer tomorrow I just want to have all my ducks in a row so they wont attempt to take advantage of me.

Now the background info: 95 Q with 258K miles I just had the fuel rail and transmission flushed this weekend at the dealership. So could anything during this service have potentially caused this? Synthetic Mobil 1 oil, BG44K, pretty well maintained.

[superuber]

The service you got should not have caused a coolant leak. Have you replaced any of the coolant hoses? Has the under plenum service been done? If not-it's way over due! Gurgling is probably due to low coolant -air in the system. need more maint. info.

[oldmako]

When the car is cool ensure that the coolant is full. Fire it up and let it get warm, drive it around the 'hood a bit. Then raise the hood and find the leak. It's there somewhere. A hose let go, a clamp broke, etc. Not a big deal if you don't let the coolant get too low or the engine get too hot. You'll find it.

Last summer the radiator on my truck sprung a leak high up on the side when I was 500 miles from home. I tossed several gallons of water in the bed and headed home. Needles to say I kept an eye on the temp. Every 30 mins or so I checked the coolant. Then every hour when there was minimal loss evident at the 30 interval.

I got home no prob and had the rad repaired. They pulled it, rodded it and flushed it. They then installed new sides and cut me loose for about 150 bucks.

Don't let them sell you a radiator when all you may need is a hose. Hopefully it will be something simple and inexpensive.

If it's a hose, chances are the others are old and tired as well. The new one will shift the pressure elsewhere so you may as well replace them all for peace of mind....or piece of mind if you're one of those guys. And whatever you do....make SURE you use OEM parts! (tic)

ps mine leaked the mostest AFTER I shut it down

[laidbackblk45]

I have never had any of the hoses done. I didnt think the services could have caused it but maybe if they were not careful under the car maybe they could have punctured something b/c the problem didnt start until this week after the service. I just went out in my Fiance's G35 after I got home and I checked under my Q and nothing was there. My commute home is a/b 45mins ( Gotta love Atlanta, GA traffic) so I figured I would have seen some leakage. Hopefully it is just a hose clamp or something cheap.

[oldmako]

How long have you owned the car? It's got a mess of miles and is 13 yrs old....so it's possible that there are some very old hoses in there. Chances are also excell that a mech could have leaned on a hose and weakened it enough that the next time the engine heats up (and the psi goes up) the hose lets go. It's a leak, it's not like you lost all oil psi. Of course it could be something serious, but I doubt it. Let it get warm and that leak will show itself.

If the hoses are ancient, bite the bullet and change them all out. Install a new radiator cap as well. Have the radiator checked by a shop that specializes in rad repair or just replace it. Aluminum engines are fairly intolerant of overheating....and this mother would be insanely pricey to replace.

If it's leaking on the pax side it's probably not the pump.good luck

[lino]

Take a look under the plenum with a light:



Hopefully, there is no coolant as seen here:



If there is, it could be one of these hoses: zer...m.jpg

zer...p.jpg

†† Refer to the following threads for more information:

zerothread?id=85988

zerothread?id=212964

[laidbackblk45]

I am the 2nd owner and I got it in 03. The miles mainly came from when I had to commute 80 miles (on highway) one way to work. So 160 miles daily 5 days a week almost 1000/per week with other driving it adds up. I will check it 1st thing in the morning before I go to the dealership to see if I can find it. I am thinking that it is the radiator cap or one of the clamps b/c of the spray on the engine. It is very easy to notice the antifreeze spray when you clean your engine as often as I do.

[Q451990]

fuel rail and transmission flushed this weekend at the dealership

Have you considered T3 for the Q? I suspect they do the majority of 1st gen. Q work in ATL. Some of us drive long distances to get there!

Heath

[laidbackblk45]

I have actually gone by two of the shops (Smyrna and Dekalb) for general questions and I definitely will use them for my valve cover gaskets and plenum job. The dealership is literally 3 minutes from me and I have become friends w/ the mechanics. Three of them have 1 Gen Qs themselves so I let them do general maintenance. This is something that I want to fix correctly and quickly so I will take it to the dealership tomorrow. T3 is only open Mon.-Fri. and my fiance is taking her G35 out of town this weekend so I need to get it fixed ASAP.

[laidbackblk45]

Just got back from the dealer. It was what I was hoping it wasn't. The radiator needs replacing. $425 bucks (price includes installation) so it could have been worse. They didn't have it so they had to order it. I will let everyone how it goes when I get it put in Tuesday.

[lino]

I wish it was only the radiator when I had a coolant leak.

Are you sure that $425 is for the radiator and labor? OEM radiator is close to $485 alone.

[maxnix]

Are you sure that $425 is for the radiator and labor? OEM radiator is close to $485 alone.

$486.29 + shipping for the radiator assembly from Joe.

Now if you just want the core, only $822.80 !!!

Go figure.

Can you say custom Griffin?

http://www.griffinradiator.com/

Don't forget the foam blocks and consider replacing the lower metal sacrificial anode.