Mysterious Coolent Drops

I have a question for a 2k Silhouette with 110k miles. Once the van left the house, I had observed a very small puddle of Dex-cool on the garage floor. After the van came back, I can’t seem to find any leaks or missing coolant from the reservoir. Coolant can’t be more orange with possibly GM almost dissolved tablet. No overheating or any dash lights reported.
Puddle is sort of aligned near/below the passenger side firewall and serpentine belt area. Is there is a transmission cooler line or we are looking at a possible water pump failure.

could be waterpump, waterhose loose or cracked intake gasket starting to leak also are the bleeders loose on the heater line that is above the waterpump. just some ideas let us know what you find

I am just unable to replicate the leak issue. I checked the bottom radiator hose, make sure clamp is secured. Intake Manifold gasket was done during van’s extended warranty period. I cautiously inspect engine oil for any issues. For test purpose, I started the vehicle and check for leaks, found none! I drove for few miles, brought up to the running temp and check for leaks again, none discovered. I left it idle and let the temp gauge cross the middle mark (my van has some variation when these auto fans start, it doesn’t start right at the half mark but a bit over the half mark) and let the auto fan kick in. Auto fan brought the temp back down quick with no issues. Later during the weekend we took the van on a 160 miles roundtrip journey (sometimes A/C ON) again with no issues.

if the leak was a small leak right after the intakes were replaced then it could be some thing that had to get warm to seal. there is a small 0 ring in the top of the waterpump that goes to the heaterhose that could have had to swell to seal. i know that these 3.4s are a pain to work on i have put intake and head gaskets in in 2005 then the fuel pump started to quit but didn't quit it just die a slow costly death it had the van jumping and bucking and backfiring . the backfiring concusioned the cam ,crank,and throttle sensors . then after replacing the sensors then the intakes started to leak again from the backfiring. but maybe the leak has stopped.

After you've gone for a long drive, as soon as you get out of the van open the hood. Use your nose and sniff around for a "sweet" smell. If the engine is hot enough, a leak may not be noticed immediately as it would evaporate. I had a leak once that was like that with the plumbing going to the heater cores. It would leak a very little bit most of the time, but it would evaporate as it dripped onto the engine. The only time a puddle would form would be when we went on a short drive where the coolant started to build pressure, but the engine didn't get hot enough to evaporate the coolant. After we shut the van off, coolant would leak out until it cooled, running down the side of the engine.

You can get a UV tracer dye at Napa that will leave a very tell-tale sign where a leak is at. It only costs a few bucks and can quickly show you where a leak is at.

Thanks guys for the feedback. Van had intake, head gaskets, and fuel pressure regulator replaced under its extended warranty when it had less than 100k miles. We purchased it used, it also came with a brand new fuel pump assembly installed by the dealer. But even with all these maintenance records, our cost of maintenance had exceeded 1200 bucks for just barely driven a distance of 9k miles during the first year (100k miles tune up charges are not included) of purchase. We had already been through the havoc of no power to the fuel pump, PCS and misfire issues.

Now this O ring on top of waterpump, is it visible and also, what is location of heaterhose/cores.

I will check for this sweet coolant smell, but why I am not observing any drop of coolant level in the reservoir bottle. I never had to add any Dex-cool in the bottle and checked it regularly (usually checking for gunk or discoloration which I don’t find any). How strong this odor has to be.

Thanks Again,

if you look at the motor you will see a black metal tube that runs across the front of the valve cover follow it to the left there is a "t" in it at the bottom of this tee that pushes in top of the waterpump there is an "o" ring that surely they replaced when they do the work on the intakes. your heater hose is the black tubing that runs from the pump around to one of the heater hoses that go into the inside the dash.if this "o"ring was leaking you will see dexcool. but if you ain't loosing any dexcool then what ever it was has quit
i have put two sets of intakes and one head set on mine now i check my coolant every week the fans will kick on a little over 1/2 way on gauge but never let it get over 3/4 way up on gauge whether idleing or going down the road.

Coolant mystery has been resolved yesterday, as I observed the puddle as soon as the van pulled in the garage. I restarted the engine and sure coolant was slowly spewing with small splash (on the bottom hose) from somewhere under the water pump. Drove (not too far) to the repair shop right away. Diagnostics/pressure test was performed and root cause was pointed to water pump. A new set of upper and lower hoses with fresh batch of Dex-cool also added. Thanks all for assistance at this site.
Its looks like the van knew that I just paid off the last payment of my last repair bill. Also, shop tech guys gave me a heads up for couple thousand miles down, I do need a Lower Intake gasket replacement ($, $, $).

My 1998 Olds Silhouette is streaming water somewhere from the block/heads under the front heat shield. Are there freeze/expansion plugs located under there that may have blown or rotten out? My Haynes manuals says nothing about freeze plugs.

Note: There is no signs of antifreeze in the oil when I checked the dip stick.