My day old 308 already leaking coolant.

Coolant leak on my one day old to me 308. Just picked up this car yesterday, and have put about 50 miles on it. Pulled into the garage to coolant leaking everywhere. I am going to try and post a video to see if anyone has more accurate diagnosis than myself. Thanks.

 

spraying out while under pressure from engine getting up to temp, car never ran hot on temp gauge, stopped spraying once pressure reduced from cooling down.

 

Seemed to be leaking from a hose or fitting in very top, front corner of engine bay behind passenger

 

Jack up the car and remove the right rear tire and fender liner (not hard to do). This should allow you to get a good look at the area where the leak is occurring. Look for leaks around the rubber coupler hoses (3-4 inch sections of rubber connecting cooling pipes). Could also be water pump, Look for dripping from the weep hole in the water pump.
This is just one of the joys of buying a 34+ year old car. I doubt it is too serious. Welcome to the club.

Good luck.

 

I may or may not have been the guilty party behind the wheel when said leak occurred. I couldn’t quite capture bit on the video, but a small stream was visibly spraying upwards from a hose or fitting in that far corner. Looked like what you’re expect from a loose hose or hose with small crack in it. I’ve been looking at parts diagrams and just trying to figure out exactly what all is in that area that it could be. Anyone happen to have an actual photo of the lines and fittings in that area so I can see how they are arranged?

 

Gawd. Sorry to hear about this.

My Welcome Wagon surprise was when my oil cooler started leaking one week after buying my car six years ago.

There are lots of places for coolant leaks on that side of the engine. Download the Parts Diagrams to see how the plumbing works.

If you are a do-it-yourselfer, you can put the car on jack stands, remove the rear right wheel and the wheel well liner. It gives a clear view to the thermostat, water pump, down-pipes etc that are on that side of the engine. When it is up you can also crawl underneath and inspect the hoses and pipes that connect the engine with the radiator at the front of the car.

There is a high probability that its something that is quite easily fixed.

 

Step One: Start with a coolant pressure test kit, and a spray bottle of soapy water. Don't pressurize above about 10-12psi; that's enough to find the leak, but not over-stress the hoses and clamps.

 

On the video, looks like the steam is coming from the right side of the front bank, is that correct?

 

Correct.

 

Best to replace all hoses, fittings , of course if they are the original, 308s are known to have minor issues with the cooling system, I believe also that somebody makes a radiator that is much better than the factory unit as well . Its also a good idea to replace the water pump, if its been many years since it was last replaced or rebuilt. But you most likely are aware of it good luck

 

Hard to say from the video, but I vote 'waterpump'. Had strong steam in exactly that region when mine failed. How long did the car sit prior to your purchase? If the w/p is worn out, chances are big, that it fails completely after a longer standstill.
In my case if failed on the first day after a 4 months winter break.

Best from Germany
Martin

 

Waterpump... may as well do the belts while you're in there... and all the hoses, including the heater hoses... ah, happy memories! Welcome to the asylum

 

LOL! You made my day!

Best from Germany
Martin

 

I agree that in all likelihood it is a minor problem as far as repair - cracked hose or loose/broken hose clamp. Could be the WP BUT, as suggested, using a cooling system pressure tester is a good way to find the leak. FWIW, I was just standing around one day, looking at an engine which was not running though it had been running the day prior. While I just happened to be looking at an area of the engine that had a hose clamp on the radiator hose, the hose clamp snapped. So hose clamps can let go with no apparent reason! Also, they can loosen over time; periodic checking/snugging is a good idea.

As far as the water pump, PERSONALLY, I wouldn't remove it unless it showed symptoms of needing it. If there is nothing leaking/seeping from the weep hole, I'd leave it alone. I know many folks don't agree but WPs seldom just fail - in fact, I have never heard of one doing so. They just start weeping if the seals are going bad. They will weep for a LOOONG time while working just fine - talking many months or longer. I've seen them weeping for over a year with no issues at all re cooling, other than loosing a bit of coolant. I'm not suggesting you leave a weeping one in place, just saying that if it's NOT weeping, it's OK and will give you plenty of notice if the seals begin to give up. But that's totally a "comfort level" decision; some folks use the "while I'm in there" approach, others use the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it approach."

 

This car had a major done 2 years ago, not sure off the top of my head if the water pump was replaced as part of that though, but we can find out. We are going to get the wheel and fender liner off later today and have a better look. Will report back. Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

 

Yes Mike. That's the problem, that it's still working o.k., even when it's weeping a bit. And you only discover slight weeping if you look from below, with removed fender liner or with a mirror from above. Only coincidentally I discovered a small drop below the weep hole on mine, a little bit of bearing play while wiggling the pulley with the belt off and thought I'll leave it alone till the next major.
That was a mistake and it failed completely 200mls. from home with spectacular steam in the rearview mirror.
But I have also seen waterpumps which failed suddenly with a seized bearing. Didn't weep and no pulley play. But this is a different story.

Best Regards
Martin

 

Martin - I can't argue against the experience you had! Usually a failing bearing makes itself known (noise/vibration) long before it actually will seize but obviously there are exceptions!

 

Mike,
sorry for going off-topic, but the most sudden -and spectacular- bearing failure I experienced was on my '72 Alfa GTV when the prop-shaft support bearing seized while travelling at 90mls/hr. The noises and vibrations occured around max. 5 seconds prior to the complete failure. Never experienced such a noise inside a car, when the propshaft hit the floor turning with 3.500 1/m after the rubber support has melted. Since it's no transaxle Alfa, I had to stand the noise till standstill.

Best
Martin

 

Except for the 90 degree hose at the upper left radiator inlet all of the hoses are short straight couplers 4 to 6 inches long. There is one at the thermostat output above the water pump that connects a pipe that goes down in front of the alternator where there is another coupler hose to another pipe that runs all the way forward to under the battery. So, back in that corner there is only that one hose but you'll have to get under the car and maybe remove one of the heat shields to get to it.

 

Forgot to mention this... Unless the cap is recently new, replace the cap.

 

Find the problem and fix it. No need to start replacing everything just because. A couple of hoses in the area of you apparent leak are typically replaced with a major. It could easily be a loose hose clamp. Pressurize the system and look for leaks. Don't forget to check the smaller hoses If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

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AND...Make sure it's the proper type of cap - with the little disc-valve spring-loaded shut!

 

Welcome to the club

The day after I brought my 308 home after waiting since I was 13 to own one, my waterpump blew.

The very f-ing next day.

 

What is the part labeled #10? (The disc shaped thing just before the rubber hose)

 

I had a coolant hose go a week or two after getting the 355. With a burst of steam it looked worse than it was. Ended up putting the nice silicone kit from Dave Helms for all hoses.