help needed to find hidden water leak

brandywine11297

Registered User
i have on the strangest water leaks i have had the displeasure to come across. i had a water pump go out on my 89 sc, so i put a new one one. everything was cool. changed the radiator cap, thats when the problems started. i have to get my radiator fixed (as soon as i get the money and time to pull it and take it to the shop). but the problem that is giving me the most fit is trying to find a non-radiator related leak. i have checked the heater hoses, the line going to the oil cooler, radiator hoses, thermostat housing, and thermostat bypass hose. they are all dry, but i still have a leak. the strangest thing about this leak is that yesterday the car was not driven, i put water in the radiator, and this morning there was a puddle under the car. i put my car on jack stands and slid under it on my low-clearance creeper (a piece of cardboard LOL) and a flash light. to no avail i could not see where it was coming from. it is dripping off the frame around by the rack and pinion steering. it is driving me nuts. only thing i can figure is there is a freeze plug somewhere, so if anyone knows of a pic that shows the freeze plug locations it would be helpful. any other thoughts would also be appreciated.
attacked by the love/hate relationship of the supercoupes.
 
yea

rent or buy a radiator system pressure tester...Autozone has them...and pressurize it and that should point you in the right direction...Also radiator cap pressure is essential, so you might have put the wrong pressure level cap on and it blew stuff up : (
 
radiator cap is correct. will see if i can get it to school one day and do a pressure test, but the one we did before i put a radiator cap on it showed no leaks.
 
Go through a couple cans of brake cleaner cleaning off the engine. Just use the non chlorinated stuff to keep ELF happy. Then check it after driving, hopefully before everything gets soaked. Just a word of warning though, I had a mysterious coolant leak until I ran a coolant system flush. That cleaned out the gunk that was holding back my head gasket leak, and is what prompted my engine rebuild.
 
Mine was leaking in exactly the same place and i did not find it until i took the drs side accessory bracket off.
The head had cracked externally from the front freeze plug too just behind the 1st lower head bolt.
The crack was completley visable but only when the bracket was removed.
I hate too say it but you way want to check for a cracked head,i hear it's fairly common on these cars as the heads where made poorly.
 
I second the timing cover, mine started leaking shortly after I did my water pump. The timing cover is what the water pump is mounted on, it's between the water pump and the block. some of the water pump bolts go all the way through the timing cover into the block. Mine was leaking on the passenger side near the top.
Here is a diagram showing the timing chain cover, it's part number 32 and is listed as oil pump which is mounted on the inside of it.
http://www.trademotion.com/partloca...=1989&graphicID=FDP050&callout=19&catalogid=1
 
damn that looks like alot of work. guess there is only one way to find out what it is, i will have to start pulling the front of the engine off. just got to find time to do it. and get a new low clearance creeper (new piece of cardboard) to get under the car.
 
I bet it is the timing cover leaking.

i believe you are correct. car was sitting cold, added water and the leak started. started looking and i see it leakingon the block behind the water pump. good thing the gaskets (timing cover, water pump, and what looks like a front seal) only cost about $10. just seems like its going to be a lenghty job. wish me luck.
 
i believe you are correct. car was sitting cold, added water and the leak started. started looking and i see it leakingon the block behind the water pump. good thing the gaskets (timing cover, water pump, and what looks like a front seal) only cost about $10. just seems like its going to be a lenghty job. wish me luck.
Before you dive into it, you might try tightening the nuts up a bit. :D Worked for me.. I think.. that is since I did that, my leak hasn't returned. I also cleaned the corner well with brake parts cleaner on a rag, and sealed arount the water passage with black silicon RTV.
BTW, to me, RTV is like duct tape.. I've found about 100 uses for it. :D
 
thought about removing the bolts that come in contact with the water jackets and putting some silicone and then putting them back in and torque back down to spec. might be able to do it tomorrow.
 
thought about removing the bolts that come in contact with the water jackets and putting some silicone and then putting them back in and torque back down to spec.
I did that and it leaked immediately when I put water back in it. I decided to drive it and watch the water level carefully, after a couple of days it stopped. I drove it for a couple months then the leak came back.:confused:
 
put some bars leak in it yesterday. leak gone for now. rain today and for the next few days is gonna complicate any work i wanted or needed to do. so maybe i can get started some time next week.
 
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