96 LeSabre Coolant leak

[vair guy]

Hello again, My 96 LeSabre has a coolant leak. It appears to be from the front of the motor under and harmonic balancer. Figuring the leak the was coming from somewhere else I looked around the top of the motor. I noticed the water pump pulley seemed to have some extra play in it. Figuring that's where the leak was coming from I got another one. In the process of pulling it out I noticed it was bone dry. So I have a new water pump but still have a HUGE leak. It got dark outside so I'm going to wait till tomorrow to try and do a better job of tracing it down. I was just wondering is there anything in the balancer area that could be leaking coolant?

[HotZ28]

Are you sure it is not leaking down from another source? Did you install the new water pump? Have you checked the coolant bypass elbow?

[vair guy]

I have to clean everything, get under the car, and run it to know for sure but the leak is very bad so it shouldn't be to hard to find. I go threw almost as much water as I do gas.

[vair guy]

I was just kind of wondering that if I do find its leaking from the bottom front of the motor what could it be?

[HotZ28]

It has to be from a source from above the harmonic balancer. There are no coolant passages, or hose below that! Have you checked the bottom radiator hose? It could have a pin hole, spraying coolant in any direction.

[vair guy]

That's good to hear. I don't want to have to take that balancer off. I'll let you know what I find out tomorrow.

[DeltaP]

Ya need to pressure test the cooling system. Alot faster and safer than crawling under and around a running engine.

[auto trainy]

The most common place would be the by-pass elbow on the belt tensioner but a pressure test would be sure,Good Luck.

[vair guy]

Looks like it was the water pump. Weird how that thing was bone dry when I pulled it out.

Thanks for the responses.