Coolant Leak

[P10G20_kenny]

I just got my 1992 G20 back in early december. Previously owned by a Duke University/Penn Law chick, so driven carefully and bery well taken care of. Anyways, on to my problem. I have noticed a major coolant leak. I filled up the radiator and then ran the engine for a while. The coolant seems to be dripping from a pulley wheel just inside the passenger side wheel well. i can't pinpoint the exact spot where it's coming from though. any ideas or suggestions? Also, when I start the car, and for about 20 minutes after, there is a very loud whining sound coming from the same spot. Might these 2 problems be related?

[se-r-57]

Sound's like the water pump should be your first place to look

[Fabius]

im sorry to tell you kenny, car driven by chicks are offten the worst shaped cars... i have fact and i know people who have been majorly ripped off when they bough a car an thought it was a great deal because it was previously driven by a chick. Women are hard breakers, my sister in-law's sister drove 200km wit her handbreak on, she had no clue of what was going on. An they know jack shit about an engine or how it works, some dont even know a car needs oil to function properly, One of mah bros friends gurlfriends drove 20000km before she changed her oil So i worn you all, cars driven by chicks are often the worst.

im sorry to say man but i think you got ripped, NEVER BUY A CAR DAT WAS PREVIOUSLY DRIVEN BY A CHICK NO MATTER WHAT...

[AznVirus]

Originally posted by P10G20_kenny
Also, when I start the car, and for about 20 minutes after, there is a very loud whining sound coming from the same spot. Might these 2 problems be related?

hm, might be your car overheating? id check the water pump as well. check all the lines in the coolant system and see if any has a rip or crack. also, check your radiator, the fins on it arent very strong and once they rip, it will leak all the way.

[P10G20_kenny]

My first car was a 1995 Toyota Camry, i got it in July, Previously driven by, who else.....MY SISTER!! She has got to be the ultimate test for any car. The Camry had many nicknames: derby car, mystery machine, piece of shit...there were cigarette burns on the ceiling right in front of the sunroof. Well my sis got it from my mom when it had 78,000 miles. I got it with 138,000 and it stopped at 144,800 because of a stripped spline. My G20, although older, is a much better car and, even with a few dents and dings, is in much better shape. The chick i got it from has records for the oil changes every 2500 miles. You can walk around the car though and tell that she probably wasn't the greatest driver. Like i said, it's got i a few dents and dings and scratches, but it's in good mechanical shape. I took the car and left it at the shop this afternoon, so i should know tomorrow how much this is going to cost.

[boingo82]

This is such a coincidence. I have had a medium coolant leak for about the last month. I had been "fixing" the problem via the el cheapo method of topping off the coolant before every time I drove it. Finally on Fri. I took it in to the shop knowing it was the water pump (my dad said it probably was but he sure as heck wasn't going to spend 4+ hrs to fix it). Well, they put in a new pump for $270 ($65 pump, the rest labor). The car has not leaked since but it has been driving a bit funny because the computer got reset. I also had to reset my clock and all of my EQ settings for the stereo-darn!-but I feel good about the thing because they didn't charge me as much for labor as the last shop I went to. ($60/hr vs. $85/hr). Hope yours turns out OK.

p.s. I am a girl driver but not a horrible one like my mom (who leaves the parking brake on for miles and swerves when she checks her blind spot). Do not take my coolant "fix" as evidence that I am hard on cars. It was barely leaking at all. And my car has been 100% girl-owned and one of the best-condition Sentras for the mileage. The owner before me had a dad who was obsessive about maintenance and chgd the oil every 2500 miles w/out fail.

[boingo82]

BTW, when a water pump breaks, it's a seal inside the pump that usually breaks, and then coolant leaks out this little hole called the "weep" between these two pulleys. That's what mine did and it sounds like that's what yours is doing.

[ishydaflip]

WATER PUMP!!! I can almost guarantee that the water pump is the problem here. I have a 91 G20, and had this problem last year. At first I thought there was a hole in the coolant canister or a radiator leak, but then I noticed it was dripping right above my oil pan. I changed the water pump and it solved the problem...by the way you should consider replacing your belts while your at it...

[ishydaflip]

ACTUALLY one more thing. The whining noise are your belts. I forgot to tell you that I had that problem too when I was leaking antifreeze. It would especially screech when I would turn the wheel. Thats why I replaced the belts at the same time. Hope this helped...

[Cue-Ball]

Originally posted by ishydaflip
ACTUALLY one more thing. The whining noise are your belts. I forgot to tell you that I had that problem too when I was leaking antifreeze. It would especially screech when I would turn the wheel. Thats why I replaced the belts at the same time. Hope this helped...

That happens a lot. Especially in older cars with mechanical fans. The wind from the fan blows the coolant all over the place and it ends up coating the belts. That, in turn, causes them to squeak.

One more thing, "never buy a car from a woman" is a very stupid thing to say. I know *plenty* of guys who couldn't change a flat tire if their life depended on it. I also know women (such as my SO) who have their oil changed regularly, who keep records of servicing, and who drive their cars like little old ladies. You can never know how well a car was taken care of by what sex the owner is or by how they look. The only way to find out is to get documentation and have the car checked out by a reputable mechanic. Unless you know the person you are buying from, ALWAYS get your car checked by a 3rd party. Most mechanics will do a fairly thorough inspection for ~$200. Compression, leakdown, tranny inspection, brake inspection, tires, wipers, lights, etc. It's well worth the money to avoid buying a lemon.

-Grant

[P10G20_kenny]

Well well well..............good news and bad news.
GOOD NEWS: mechanic pressure-tested the whole cooling system, found nothing. No coolant leaked out while car was parked overnight. He said that he would take it for a drive later and check after he had run the engine.

BAD NEWS: head gasket need to be replaced. my dad said that this may also be the source of the coolant leak.

Overall, the car is worth fixing up. The 1995 Camry had 144,800 miles and needed over $3,500 worth of work to keep it running well for another year or so. The G20 is a 1992 with only 90,000 miles. In the end, the G20 will end up costing less than the Camry would've. A fw things that need to be done to the G20, in order of importance:
1. head gasket/any other engine problems
2. cv joints
3. tires..4 mismatched tires (same size, just different tires)
4. stereo needed badly, only rear speakers work
5. windows re-tinted....the old tinting is starting to bubble on the back window, and it's all turned that pinkish-purple color
6. wheels...you can tell this one's scraped a few curbs
7. small dents & dings, someone actually keyed the doors on both sides...if anyone can suggest a way to cover that up without repainting please let me know

that's all for now.........i'll be sure and keep you all updated.

-kenny-

[ishydaflip]

I brought my car to two mechanics and they told me the same thing...They took a pressure tool up to the radiator and told me that the pressure was fine, but it really wasn't. It continued to leak. But if your coolant leak stopped, the better for you.

[P10G20_kenny]

Okay, well............let's see here. UPDATE: i talked to the mechanic again today and he told me that he found some loose bolts on the back of the header, he tightened them down and the oil leak stopped. rab the car for a while and found what had been suspected all along: the water pump was no good. So, i'm getting the water pump replaced as wel as both cv joints. And since the guy is a friend of my dad's, he told me that he'd do the labor for $378 total, and we buy the parts. needless to say, i'm pretty damn happy. now if only i could do something about those damn scratches.....

-kenny-

[boingo82]

Congratulations! Good thing it wasn't the head gasket. Water pump is probably the cheapest reason that you'd be leaking coolant so I'm glad for you that's what it is. It sounded just like my problem anyhow. Good luck with the repairs.