98 Malibu LS Coolant leaking!

[Fux0r]

Hello everybody I have a 98 malibu LS and Im pretty sure its leaking coolant because the low coolant light keeps coming up and I keep re adding and recently one day after parking on a steep parking lot and coming back to my car I noticed like a huge leaking mess. I looked under the car and it apperantly was coming from the passengers side right next to to the wheel. and now researching about this it maybe that intake gasket problem or whatever and it could mess up my engine?!?! and also sometimes when im accelerating my my car jerks like it cant go to the next gear or something like that hard to explain. is that the cooling getting into the engine and making do that? sorry for not doing a better job explaining I dont know nothing about cars. Thanks to anybody who can help me. By the way my car has about 98,500 on it.

[bcopeland]

Well - think easy to fix first! Sounds like it could be as simple as the water pump. I would look at that first before I start with the intake gaskets, although I've had 2 replaced and 1 water pump replaced.

[Fux0r]

Hey bcopeland thanks for the response. I posted this in another forums and they said it could be the water pump. I guess Im going to check on that. So that means Im probably going to have to replace it? how much will that cost me? also do you know why my car sometimes jerks when im accelereating? it does this when Im already going past 40MPH and the RPM marker is getting close to the red line. Like it sounds like it cant get past the next gear smoothly does this mean my tranny is going out too? thanks for the help

[bcopeland]

That seems like a fuel pump issue - cannot keep the volume up at higher speeds. On the water pump, you can get a lifetime at Autozone for about $45 to $50 and install it yourself. You need to take the power water pump pulley off - I think it is 4 bolts through the power steering pulley or something like that. Good luck!

[Fux0r]

Well im going to see if its the water pump. What about the fuel Pump are those expensive? thanks for all the help bcopeland

[bcopeland]

Now, that's a horse of another color! The fuel pump is in the gas tank and must be dropped. I believe Pep Boys wanted $250 - $300 to drop it excluding parts ($70?). Of course, you can do it - I did it on my Astro Van. But, it is time consuming.

[ronsmithberg]

start with the cheap fix, check the pressure on the coolant tank, mine had a crack in one of the outlets that was leaking.

[KristinBrandt]

Oh my... this happened to my '99. It started out just a small leak, became a puddle overnight. We took it to a mechanic who did nothing but make the problem worse and tell me it was a hose and a belt, so we replaced both things. He also said the thing that turns the belt (sorry i dont know the name of it) was shot and to replace that as well, we did. My uncle also is a mechanic so later that day I took it to him to see what he could see and it seemed all fixed, but just a week later the problem came back. This time it was worse, the coolant leak eventually caused my head gasket to blow, and 3,000 later I have a newly rebuilt engine... considering I bought the '99 for 5,000... I would rather have trashed the damn thing.

[TheBU]

ALL i can SAY IS MAKE SURE YOU GET IT checked out....WE thought it was just the intake but infact we blow 2 head gaskets and i had to get 2 new Intake manifolds and 2 head gaskets And a fuckign water pump cost me $3600 take make the mistake i made get it check out.

[KristinBrandt]

be careful... this happened to my '99. we took it in and they said it was the water pump... and hoses. we replaced them, and the leaking stopped... for a day. The leaking then got worse, and eventually we had to replace the head gasket. $3000 dollars later I had a brand new engine.

[bcopeland]

I am not saying it is not the intake gasket - I had 2 vavle jobs, 2 intakes replaced etc. on my 99 Malibu. So, follow the advice - I was just responding to the water pump dialogue.

[lil_mac_daddy_07]

Originally Posted by Fux0r

Hello everybody I have a 98 malibu LS and Im pretty sure its leaking coolant because the low coolant light keeps coming up and I keep re adding and recently one day after parking on a steep parking lot and coming back to my car I noticed like a huge leaking mess. I looked under the car and it apperantly was coming from the passengers side right next to to the wheel. and now researching about this it maybe that intake gasket problem or whatever and it could mess up my engine?!?! and also sometimes when im accelerating my my car jerks like it cant go to the next gear or something like that hard to explain. is that the cooling getting into the engine and making do that? sorry for not doing a better job explaining I dont know nothing about cars. Thanks to anybody who can help me. By the way my car has about 98,500 on it.

Coolant leaks too i have a 98 malibu ls and it leaks collant so badly i have to fill it up every week, i drive this car like a granny and it still created more problems for me, for instance my dashboard light ABS and Brake are both on when i start driving theres no problem but the second i ever touch that brake pedal up pops the good old ABS and Brake light on the dashboard, if you have any ideas as to why this is happening PLEASE help me i have 102,314 on the car. the dealer told me it will last for 3 years at least

[lil_mac_daddy_07]

I have a 1998 malibu Ls, the coolant leaks, breaks squeal, power steering squeals. idles kinda ruff. has a knocking noise in the engine for first coupkle mins of idle, also my ABS and BRake dashboard lights come on to , i ll drive just fine until i hit those brakes , just even touch them lights are back on dinging at me, Also first two air condition speed levels dont work??? i have so many problems i just need help with the ABS and Brake dashboard lights, why do they come on after i hit my brakes???,
also the coolant???/? help me plz im about ready to drive this car off a cliff

[ladyk325]

I have a 2000 malibu and I've had the exact same problem and i've replaced the radiator, fuel pump, put in another engine and a new radiator hose and gues what.....still having the problem of the jerk. The overheating stopped after I replaced the engine because I was leaking coolant in my cylinders and my gasket blew. I had the coolant leak problem for months and no one could figure what was wrong. NO mechanic has been able to tell me why the car jerks so much. If you get any information on why it jerks, please share that.

[rsfdiver]

98 malibu v6 3100; so what is the fix
any pics and install advice for a water pump? the more I dig into this the more retarded this engine is for easy repair.