Leaking coolent

Ok, i have a 96 cavalier 5 speed, with around 150,000 miles on it, nothing great, but it gets me to work and back... A few days ago i noticed my car was leaking anti-freeze, so i figured it must be a hose or maybe a small hole in the radiator, but after looking at it, it's neither. It seems to be a slow drip, but usually by morning, the low coolent light will be on when i start the car and by the end of the day, the car is heating up. I jacked up the front passenger side of the car and it seems to be coming from that side up around where the oil pan is, but its in a spot i can't really see. Like inbetween that piece of plastic they have there and where the belt runs... Does anyone know what the problem is or might be? And i could go about fixing it? Thanks

Is it coming from the water pump? They have a weep hole in them to let you know when they are failing.

try and get a picture if you can.

Also keep an eye on the normal headgasket faliure spot, on the RH corner of the head of cylinder #4

Is it coming from the water pump? They have a weep hole in them to let you know when they are failing.

try and get a picture if you can.

yep, that is exactly what happened to me.
i went through hell and back trying to trace that leak, even replaced the coolant resevior

I agree with the headgasket too,checking that area.Put a pressure pump on and that is one way of finding the leak also.If it is the headgasket,replace it instead of patching it up with something

well, I changed the thermostat and the water pump, it;s still overheating... I did notice that the one hose that comes off the radiator closest to the battery, that hooks into the top right hand side of the motor seems like it's about to burst, like it's not letting the water pass through :banghead:

also, if i take the thermostat out, it seems to be fine, other then the fact that i don't have heat from my heater

then that would lead me to believe your new thermostat is bad, which is very common

Even though i changed it with a new one? Is there a chance the new one is bad too?

then that would lead me to believe your new thermostat is bad, which is very common

yes, that is very common

Well, Ive tried 3 different thermostats and still the same thing. It overheats with it in and the radiator hose on the right beside the battery gets real tight, like it's blocked and is about to burst.... I take the thermostat out and its fine :banghead:

are you buying crappy $7-8 thermostats from autozone or somewhere else or are you buying quality $20-30 ones?

if it works fine without a thermostat that still leads me to believe the thermostat is the problem

:banghead: after buying 3 different 8 dollar autozone thermostats, i went and paid 27 for one at a dealer... and YUP still does it.... I'll drive for about 5 min and it's in the red and boiling... The one hose by the battery that connects to the top of the motor, is always about to burst once it gets hot. SO there must be something else stopping the flow.. any more ideas?

I'm not sure if it is possible but are you installing it backwards?

No, it will only fit one way... :banghead:

but it still works just fine when you take the thermostat out, right?
what is the temperature rating on the thermostats your buying? take that temperature, and maybe try one with a lower rated temperature

Ok, i'll check that tomorrow, but i have a HUGE problem now :banghead: my uncle told me, that maybe something is blocking the water flow on the side where my battery is located, so i took off the parts that hook to the side of the motor, where the radiator hose hooks on, but found nothing... I put everything back on and now, it seems like water is going into the motor. It took a long time to start and now it's blowing huge amounts of white smoke. And it seems to be blowing the water out the muffler :banghead: Im pretty sure i put it all back on, just how i took it off, but maybe i missed something...

here is some pics of what i took off

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/9513/hpim1765lx8.th.jpg (http://img381.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hpim1765lx8.jpg)http://img381.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/6089/hpim1766ug1.th.jpg (http://img55.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hpim1766ug1.jpg)http://img55.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

Are you sure it's coming out of the muffler and not just leaking onto the exhaust. Water coming out of the tale pipe can indicate a head gasket issue, is the smoke sweet smelling? (don't breath in a lot of it.lol) Check the oil and make sure its not milky. I don't know what you could have damaged by just removing and reinstalling the hose's.

No, it's def coming out of the tail pipe.... I took off the things that the hose hooks to as well, because i thought that maybe something was lodged back there and not letting the water pass threw it

Ok, i figured out what why water was going into the motor. The EGR housing gasket was bad, so it was allowing water into the motor. I got a new gasket and changed the oil, its still smoking, but nothing like it was. I'll probably change the oil again tomorrow. Is there anything I can add to the oil to help get the rest of the water out or stop the smoking ?

Nahh. It should eventual straighten itself out. I would drive it for a couple days and then change it.