Small drop of coolant

So the weather has been hot and cold and last week there was a small drop of coolant.. right side.. I wiped it off and drove around. One more drop. Now today i wiped Off the bottom to make sure no liquid was on the car. Ran the car for 15 min sitting there. No coolant on the ground. Checked 2 hours later to see if any would be there.. still no coolant. The car is going in for annual Tuesday but has anyone had this happen?

 

Not a drop. I've had a smokescreen from a coolant coupling exploding though. That was kind of cool. If you want help figuring out where it is coming from, we will need a better description of the placement. Saying it is on the right is half of the car. Are we talking the right side looking at it from the front or back? And how far from the front or back?

 

Your right... it’s in the vicinity of the water pump... behind the door like midway to to the middle of the car. Let me rephrase... has anyone experienced a hose leaking from rapid changes in temp?

 

The changes in temp outside are nothing compared to what happens in the engine bay when the car is running. I would put money on it being this guy. IIRC that's the hose off of the thermostat housing (it's been a few years since I changed it). They commonly fail when the upper transmission mount goes out, so I would check that too. Ferrari wants like $160 for the hose, but if you do your homework you can find a much cheaper, better replacement. Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks. Hopefully it is a hose. Trans mount just replaced last year around Feb. where does that hose run?

 

It's off of the thermostat housing, on top of the water pump iirc. Bouncing around before your upper trans mount was changed is probably what did it in, assuming that is the problem. I wouldn't be worried about anything bad. Unfortunately 20 year old rubber exposed to such high temps doesn't last forever.

 

True story eventually all those hoses will have to be changed. I’ve been changing stuff as I go. I’ve had the car for around seven years and it’s been really good but I do keep it maintained and I have replaced pretty much all the seals.

 

What concerns me is the fact that even though the “drop” is on the floor, I haven’t seen any reference to what maybe on the belly pan. A drop on the floor could be a pool in the pan and is dripping through a place that is nowhere near the actual leak. Have you checked your coolant level? Took a flashlight to the belly pan?

 

yes on both. Nothing visible from any angle... no fluid. Yesterday ran it in place for 15 min and no fluid .. very odd. Coolant level good... no temp issue either.

 

Maybe weak coolant cap.. drips thru overflow tube

If this was checked already ..sorry in advance

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Thanks and yes checked that the overflow is on the left side.

 

So interesting one. .... they cleaned the bottom... ran on the lift... nothing. No leaks. WTH ... I was in the shop so I saw as well. Now we need monitor cause couldn’t replicate the leak after cleaning it off

 

Did you put a pressure tester on it? That'll expose a leak pretty quickly. With the car just idling you may never have gotten the coolant system pressure up.

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They let it run for like 10-15 min....

 

Don't think that will be sufficient. If you're inclined, pressure testers can be bought on Amazon for pretty cheap.

 

Interesting.... how are they used? There is no issue when I’m driving so what would that tell us?


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You basically just take off the coolant resevoir cap, hook it up in place of it and use a small hand pump to pressurize the system (all whilst cold). You want to see that the pressure doenst slowly drop on its own, and if it does it tends to push coolant our wherever your leak is.

https://www.amazon.com/FOUR-UNCLES-Radiator-Pressure-Carrying/dp/B087BZ91K4/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1B7VE6NB5B0R2&dchild=1&keywords=coolant+pressure+tester&qid=1612707511&sprefix=coolant+pressure+%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-5

 

I would hope any Ferrari mechanic worth his salt would have done this already, that is a SOP at places like Midas, etc...

 

Me too? Sounded like they just let it idle out though

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There are a few areas where coolant flows that are metal on metal (I think w sealant or o-rings) that could re-seal after a heat cycle. I've seen one area with very minor "wetness" when doing a coolant swap and thermostat replacement and at first had some concern. Nearby the thermostat housing but not an area where any "adjustment" could be made w the engine in installed.
I had thought to make a post about it but did not find anyone else having the issue and likely common but no one leaves there under body covers off for weeks. Totally resolved once I brought the car up to temp and wondered if it was due to the coolant separation since I poured in the undiluted coolant first.

 

Thank you. Very odd... I have driven about 200 miles and nothing...

 

Same here. I had the under car covers off for weeks (doing other work along the way like AC and belt) and left a paper towel under the area and checked. Many miles and weeks later nothing.

 

Did you find the leak? I had the same problem. 1 drop today and nothing for weeks. Then again. The coolant was sitting under rhe oil pan.


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No leak but when I swapped the thermostat the arrow is what I observed. It did not have any "wetness" after the car was brought up to temp and I am guessing the coolant mixed properly. You can see the new thermostat at the top of the picture.

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BTW there are different mount holes of the thermostat depending on the year. I found on my 2005 that I needed to drill out one of the boss on the thermostat to fit the "old" bolt pattern. When I tried to blindly put the new thermostat I was spinning the final bolt forever since the pattern did not align.

If I did not explain well you can easily tell the difference when you compare the removed thermostat to the replacement on the garage floor. Frustrating experience when you cannot get that final bolt to catch and cannot see what is wrong.