So I have a date tomorrow night and school tomorrow morning. But a day or two ago the coolant started leaking from somewhere in the engine bay, on the passenger side. Because it's 8 degrees and snowy, the underside of the car is already soaked, so there is green liquid dripping from everywhere, but especially fast from the coolant line coming down from the engine right in front of the wheel. There are no obvious leaks from either the top or the bottom, though looking back behind the engine towards the passenger compartment there is a piece of insulation that is worn and hanging off the pipe by the firewall, and it APPEARS to be the highest drip found so far. Not sure if it's a coolant line or not, but hopefully not because it looks like a ***** to get at. Thanks for the help ahead of time.

Coolant can spray up from a small leak. Unfortunately, it sounds like enough of a leak that you'll want to address it rather than worrying about it later. You should grab a flashlight and look around while the engine is running. Careful around hot and moving parts. What engine is it, and where specifically is the majority of the coolant spraying? (i.e. driver's side or passenger's side)

Edit: sorry...passenger side...you already answered that...

[This message has been edited by Neils88 (edited 02-12-2015).]

The only way to know for sure is to dig in.
If the hoses all look good, it might be the water pump. When the bearings or seals wear out there's a weep hole under the pulley that allows coolant to escape.

Sorry haha yeah it's a V6. 85. I'll check while it's running real quick (it's up on jacks already) and report back. It was entirely on the passenger side. Sounded like there was a hissing noise when it first went and smoke rising from right by the battery...

quote Originally posted by Oolab1: Sorry haha yeah it's a V6. 85. I'll check while it's running real quick (it's up on jacks already) and report back. It was entirely on the passenger side. Sounded like there was a hissing noise when it first went and smoke rising from right by the battery...

Don't run the car if it is on jacks...never a good idea. But while it's up, give it a good check around the coolant hoses. Take a rag and dry any coolant off the hoses first. If you squeeze the hoses slightly, it may reveal a hole or a small split. Then check the clamps. As mentioned, it could be an leak around the waterpump, or out of the weep hole.

EDIT: Safety note....be careful if you are lying under leaks so that you don't get (hot?) coolant in the eyes!!!! Safety glasses help but won't necessarily stop it getting in your eyes...

[This message has been edited by Neils88 (edited 02-12-2015).]

The weep hole on the water pump is VERY hard to see on the V6.....and very likely to be your issue.

Well laying under the car while it was running and up on a single jackstand (I'm so very safe. It's in a closed garage too haha) revealed not much new except drips on the exhaust line that smoked. It also appears to have dripped over to the middle of the car but that's probably just running along wires or something.

I'll go try squeezing the hoses. I'm not so worried about the coolant dripping on my eyes as I am about accidentally laying in the coolant and mud on the floor in my letter jacket. Don't even say it I know PROBABLY not the best idea but I didn't quite think that through before I brought it over to the friends house where we're working on it. But yeah the jacket is $250. Which is $50 more than I paid for the car so I'm not really willing to trade those off haha

The car is much more fun than the jacket....and don't worry, by the time you're done with it you'll have spent much more than you did for the jacket...

Haha I already have. Within two months a brake line blew and dad paid for a whole new brake system. But shhh don't tell mom she doesn't know

Anyway my friend's dad, the po, just got home and took a look and confirmed that it wasn't a weep hole thank god. But it says it looks like a heater line above the engine by the battery. But it's probably leaking behind the insulation...

So it was determined that there was nothing we could do about it now. I've gotta drive an hour to go see my gf tomorrow so I'm just gonna bring a bottle of diluted antifreeze and stop every now and then to fill up the line. I never thought I'd say this but... thank god for negative temps haha. It'll make keeping it from overheating that much easier. Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I learned what a weep hole is and about the cooling system as well as helping me to eliminate some possible problems to find the cause faster.

[This message has been edited by Oolab1 (edited 02-13-2015).]

quote Originally posted by Oolab1: So it was determined that there was nothing we could do about it now. I've gotta drive an hour to go see my gf tomorrow so I'm just gonna bring a bottle of diluted antifreeze and stop every now and then to fill up the line. I never thought I'd say this but... thank god for negative temps haha. It'll make keeping it from overheating that much easier. Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I learned what a weep hole is and about the cooling system as well as helping me to eliminate some possible problems to find the cause faster.

I really wouldn't recommend that, but your call. I had a leak from the same area. It was from the hose that connects up to the water pump, up in that area where it is real dark and closed in. It's even difficult to see with a flashlight. My leak was caused by the hose clamp, which over the years, had dug into the hose and caused a crack line in the hose. One day, on the interstate, the hose finally burst. Once it comes to temp, the coolant system is under more pressure. Thank God I had some tools on board, and spare coolant. An hour later I had cut off enough hose to do a temporary repair and get home. If this happens to you now, you will not appreciate those negative temps as much.

Jim

[This message has been edited by jimbolaya (edited 02-13-2015).]

quote Originally posted by jimbolaya: I really wouldn't recommend that, but your call. I had a leak from the same area. It was from the hose that connects up to the water pump, up in that area where it is real dark and closed in. It's even difficult to see with a flashlight. My leak was caused by the hose clamp, which over the years, had dug into the hose and caused a crack line in the hose. One day, on the interstate, the hose finally burst. Once it comes to temp, the coolant system is under more pressure. Thank God I had some tools on board, and spare coolant. An hour later I had cut off enough hose to do a temporary repair and get home. If this happens to you now, you will not appreciate those negative temps as much. Jim

You are taking a chance, the car can overheat even in the cold temps.

Well in the -6 degree trip to school this morning the clutch line froze up and didn't work. In the middle turn lane of the busiest intersection in town. So after all the other kids passed me a nice old bus driver finally let me push it backwards down the hill and off the road. A cop showed up and I sat in his car while I waited for dad. He then took it to the shop so they SHOULD be fixing the coolant line for me. Hopefully...

Good stuff man, these old cars can be a problem sometimes... Report back when it's all figured out what it turned out to be so we can get some closure on the issue! :P

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"Discord"
Red 1988 GT under restoration!

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Even if they fix the leak you should probably borrow a car for that trip. It takes a while to "burp" all the air out. In the mean time you could cook the engine or break down. Too much to worry about under the circumstances. For instance the heat could be marginal if there are bubbles in that circuit. Not only would that be uncomfortable, but with two people breathing in there it would soon be completely fogged up. imho

Well I can assure you the windows would be very fogged up anyway if I took it up there hehe

Haha I just picked it back up today. The thermostat wasn't back in it yet from when we tried to fix it ourselves so it was a cold -21 degree trip home... but when I first started it it sounded very different. A lower, deeper growl and the tach which was jumpy before was very stable now. Other than that everything seems to be ok. They essentially bypassed the old heating line with a new rubber one and rerouted it in a different position to make it all fit. It was a hole, probably from rust, in the part of the line that ran behind the insulation by the battery. Not sure what else they did to make it sound so much better but I love it.

No that's where you want it to be if there is any air. That's the highest point. My way of making sure the air is out is to park in a certain spot where the rest of the car is pointed down, and open it when warm. If a little spills out I figure that's fine, if it's low I add some. If you park level that should be the highest point anyway.

Legend has it that a Hudson High student wrecked a 65 Mustang, in 1965. They say he was trying to take his jacket off.

Ok phew. I was really worried there for a sec haha. But yeahhh I can see that happening... kids around here tend to just not take very good care of things cuz they just get bought a new one if it breaks... I'm not saying I'm not guilty of this cuz yeah I'll admit I've been less than careful before, but I try not to be that kinda person. Still though... cops around here don't care usually about that kinda stuff. This Friday... hehehe let's just say there's a parking lot and a giant mound of snow between it and the road

Anyway thanks for everyone's help and advice. I've learned a lot and since I wanna be an auto engineer eventually it's all good to know!