Coolant Leak - Somewhere

scotty54

Registered User
I have a coolant leak but can't find the source. It's at or near the front of the motor but I am going to have to start removing parts to find it. Obviously it's a small leak and won't leak while I am looking.

Never having done any motor work on my SC besides a tune, can I remove the water pump (the most likely suspect) without removing any of the supercharger plumbing?
Any of you folks have experience with a similar leak, anything common with the SC motor?
 
When the water pump has seen better days, it tends to leak from the weep hole, underneath the snout. Pull the belt and see if the pump has any wobble/lateral movement. Use an inspection mirror to check under the snout.

Otherwise, most likely/common is the small bypass hose at the thermostat housing, or the housing gasket itself.

Pressure test to locate.

As for doing the water pump, having the intercooler pipes out is beneficial, esp. when you go to remove the bracket from the water pump to the power steering pump and need to pull the power steering pump pulley. I'd be darn certain it needed a water pump before i went that far, but if you do go in, see what else needs help in that area.
 
Update:

Upon closer inspection today all the previous possible leak spots are good. Water pump shaft is tight, nothing from the weephole. I checked the connection of every cooling system hose - all good.

The coolant appears to be dripping from the timing cover to suspension parts on the passenger side It leaks the same running or not - just a drip every few minutes. I thought maybe it was the pump to timing cover gasket but it's at the block. Looks like a possible head gasket. I am not very familiar with this motor and thankfully mine has been trouble free, and low mileage. But - that's my best guess at this point.

I know the SC has a reputation for blown head gaskets but I assume that's related to the blower and subsequent intake pressures. Have any of you encountered this before?
 
Freeze plug? How old is the anti-freeze?

As for headgaskets and coolant leaks, those tend to occur -inside- the cylinder/combustion chamber, most often pass. side rear. Correlating the two is a reach, I think.

Pressure test it, and then re-check. Don't guess.
 
I think my 1993 is leaking from it's radiator. Coolant puddles up into the front bumper cover and drops on the ground. Might be a radiator hose, but it seems to be collecting in the bottom of the metal radiator frame. I know 1991 and newer Supercoupes got plastic radiators and they eventually leak. It only leaks after the car warms up. The car used to leak around the thermostat housing until I replaced the thermostat and gasket material.
 
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Scotty -

Going through the same thing right now. Pressure test is key. Pump it up to about 15psi and start digging around. I'm 99% sure mine was leaking at the timing cover gasket. Unfortunately to be certain, I'd have to pull so much stuff out that I wouldn't be able to put the system under pressure again, so that's what I went with. Leak was very close to freeze plug, but now that I'm able to really see the freeze plug, it looks clean and I'm not messing with it.
 
Good morning


Might try the uv dye, light and glasses approach. Pour in and drive. Check for leaks afterwords. Items should be available at AutoZone and or NAPA.
 
Although I hate to admit it my SC went to my local auto repair shop, only because they are quite reputable and I had no garage space for an extended maintenance project. My 77 Cherokee is also getting some transfer case work and couldn't be moved out of the way.

The leak is coming from the timing cover. The repair is labor intensive so will be costly, but in the process I will get a new PS pump (was noisy) and new timing cover crank seal (slight oil leak) and a water pump. This car has only 33k miles but sat unmoved for several years. It took it's toll but most of that has been repaired. Adding the PS pump to the process added zero labor costs. And . . . it will have a one year warranty.

I appreciate the help from you folks.
 
Sounds dead on. I'll be curious, if you don't mind sharing, what they charge you in the end. I'm doing the exact same job in my spare time.
 
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