coolant leak

Greetings from Sunny Fl.
My 97 Auora has, for some time, occasionally run hotter than normal. Usually, it will run just below the 220 mark on the gauge. Nearly a year ago, we had a coolant leak under the intake, and our mechanic thought that the water pump failed. He found some seals on a tube had failed, repaired that, put in a new thermostatand saved us the expense of the pump. Didn't change the tendancy to run hot. A few months later I changed the thermostat again since it is such a low cost item and still no improvement.
Now, in addition to running hot on occasion, we get steam coming from the area between the engine and firewall, and sometimes a puddle under that area. I took it to an Olds dealer, and of course the car deceided to play "hard to get" or rather, hard to figure out, and wouldn't leak or steam for them even with a pressure test. It did run hot on a road test but they couldn't diagnose the problem.

Any one have any experience with these issues?

I suspected the radiator might be clogged, but the dealer told me that not once have they ever encountered that on an Aurora. Does the temperature sensor go bad like our fuel sending unit did? The steam and leak could be as simple as a heater hose or fitting, or it could be a head gasket. It does run rough for a few minutes in the morning, but I see no white smoke from the tail pipes.

Has anyone ever used a "water wetter" product with the dexcool with good results?

Thanks for your help, Dave Kirby

I just went through similar issue. I bought a 96 for $1500.00 with overheat problems. It would idle all day and run perfect. At highway speeds it would blow coolant out of the tank and then overheat. The Buick dealer said that 4.0 engines leak compression into the cooling system. This is caused by the block threads weakening and allowing the head or heads to seperate at highway speeds.I pulled my motor last week and they were right. I had 3 or 4 head bolts loose. I ordered a timsert kit to repair the threads .Smell your coolant . Does it smell like combustion. Dealer said they could fix it for around $2000.00. I am doing it myself for around $1000.00. I found the gm service manuals on ebay for $40.00 and the insert kit cost me around $350.00. I hope this is not your problem because pulling a 4.0 is very difficult. This is not just a olds problem , its a caddy problem as well. by the way my 4.0 has 130,000 miles.

Not bad, for $2500 you got a 96 Aurora with a newly rebuilt engine.

Tell that to my wife!!!

Tell that to my wife!!!

Give the car to her for a while and she will take to it. Women love power also. When I bought our 96 Aurora my wife didn't like it at all. Said it was too big etc... I took her Topaz apart which forced her into the Aurora. The Topaz was sold when I got it put back together.

im getting another aurora next week so I'll have the perfect 4.6 swap car. I'll have all the extra parts except internals. I love this car and so does my fiance after my 4.6 is done Im giving her my 4.0 aurora.

im getting another aurora next week so I'll have the perfect 4.6 swap car. I'll have all the extra parts except internals. I love this car and so does my fiance after my 4.6 is done Im giving her my 4.0 aurora.


I have a 96 aurora - it does not run hot but occasionally leaks. I can open the radiator 2 hrs after shut down and pressure will be relieved, but in the morning a puddle of coolant will be on the ground. It does not do it every day. 52 k miles no other problems.

I have a 96 aurora - it does not run hot but occasionally leaks. I can open the radiator 2 hrs after shut down and pressure will be relieved, but in the morning a puddle of coolant will be on the ground. It does not do it every day. 52 k miles no other problems. Has anyone seen this?

where is the puddle?

I have a 96 aurora - it does not run hot but occasionally leaks. I can open the radiator 2 hrs after shut down and pressure will be relieved, but in the morning a puddle of coolant will be on the ground. It does not do it every day. 52 k miles no other problems. Has anyone seen this?



My '98 had a puddle one day, and it was the water pump. Still running a little hot after replacement, but no more leaking....

I have a 96 aurora - it does not run hot but occasionally leaks. I can open the radiator 2 hrs after shut down and pressure will be relieved, but in the morning a puddle of coolant will be on the ground. It does not do it every day. 52 k miles no other problems. Has anyone seen this?
Front left

where is the puddle?
front left

front left (drivwer's side) could be water pump or radiator. however, as the radiators are notorious for splitting on the passenger side i am leaning toward the water pump. there are other things on the lfet too but the water pump is the most likekly.

check the hoses in that area too