Coolant Leak

The only cooling system component on that side of the engine is the water pump, Could be the water pump itself or the mounting gasket to the water pump. does it leak while running or when the car has been off? Check out his guide


https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-is-leaking-coolant

Please run down this guide and report back.

The leak is dependent on the motor running. After I park the after driving it lets off a few drips. This is another sign that the leak is not a crack in the reservoir or radiator...it happens after flowing through those. If it means anything I noticed the dripping has slowed down. Last weeks it dropped a large puddle emptying the coolant reservoir. After that I filled it back up and since then has only been letting off a handful of drops when parked after running. I always keep a very close eye on the coolant levels before driving and while driving I keep a close eye on the engine temperature. It never overheats.

The proper way to diagnose a leak is to pressurize your system and look for the leak.

Pressurize the system to the psi rating on the reservoir cap. If you can't see the leak from the top, then jack the car up and look from the bottom.

Also, just because the intake gasket was replaced doesn't mean it won't leak. Not saying that's what I think it is, but don't rule something out until you've tested it.

Thanks for the help guys. I found the leak, it was the water pump gasket. The gasket was ate apart on the bottom side. I wound up replacing the water pump as well since I had it apart anyways and the new pump came with a gasket.

No problem. If you need anymore help, just let me know.

My coolant light was on so I went to buy some coolant and put it in and the light went off but a couple days later the light came back on so I check the coolant and it was all gone! I'm thinking there is a leak and I hope its not too serious because I have to travel this weekend for work and I'm scared that it will over heat! So do I keep coolant with me at all times! And the heat doesn't work all that is blowing is cold air!

You definitely have a coolant leak somewhere. These motors are very common to leak at the intake manifold gasket, but take the car to she a shop and have them pressure test it to see where the leak is. Also if you have it fixed be sure you have heat out the vents at idle. They can be a bear at times to bleed all the air out of the system.

Do you think I will be okay to drive 2 hours if I put some coolant in and bring some with me! This weekend as I'm super busy with work! Because other then that it seem too be running fine its not over heating but the temperate gauge is over half but as soon as I put coolant in it goes back to normal and the heat works.

Thanks Brandon

I think you will be ok. Just be sure to keep it as full as you can with fluid.

Alright awesome thanks so much! Very Helpful

Engine Mechanical problem
1999 Chevy Malibu 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 59.000 miles

my car leaks oil and antifreeze

HI there,

You will need to locate these leaks, wash down the engine and run and watch for fresh oil leaking, check front seal rear seal, rocker cover oil filter and oil pressure switch as these are the most likely cause, as for the coolant, get a cooling system pressure test as this will locate any external coolant leaks easily.

Mark (mhpautos)

1999 Malibu is leaking coolant bad! Not sure what the problem is. Mechanic A) say's it head gasket, Mechanic B) say's it's radiator. I fill it to the fill line one morning, by the next morning the warning light is beeping and the little plastic container I have under the leak is 1/2 full.
Not sure what I should do. I'm only using the car til my mom get's home, it's her car, but I have to take care of her apartment, plants & animals while she's out of town, and our second vehicle is a '97 Intrepid with almost 400K on it, school lesson car, engine is spotless, passed certification with flying colours, dream to drive, but we don't want to rack up to many extra miles. It's 20Km round trip from our home to my mom's.
Please help!!

have the cooling system pressure tested to find the leak. it could also be a waterpump or an lower intake gasket. dont over drive it and over heat the engine. it could damage something

99 malibu 6 leaks coolant badly. the line that allows the coolant to fill to the top of the radiator was clogged at the inlet to the fill tank the tiny copper tube was full of goooo I used a long. 1/16 drill to clear it out leak stopped car really runs good now

Great addition to this thread! Please feel free to help out whenever you are on the site :)

Cheers, Ken

I've had this leaks for about a year I just keep fixing it with liquid copper seal witch is the worst solution. Its some kind of leak at the bottom left side of the engine if your standing inform of a car. I don't like mechanics working on my car so I haven't brought it to any shops and I can't find anything online about it.

Good evening,

All that sealer does is clog up the radiator and heater core and never really does nothing about the leak.

I would rent a pressure tester and pump up the system and use a bright LED light to determine the source of the leak.

The lower left is the timing cover, water pump and it could also be the intake manifold gaskets as well. That is why you need a nice bright light to find the source under pressure.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/radiator-pressure-test

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-is-leaking-coolant

Roy

I am loosing a reservoir full of coolant during a 40 minute drive to work. there are no visible leaks. However, my a/c smells like coolant, condensation is coming out of my defrost and fogging up my window, and hot water is coming out of my a/c drain hose. What in the world is going on? Call crazy , but I can not find the water pump either. Where is it? 99 chevy malibu, 155K miles 2.1L 4cyl

hello,

two things, check your Heatercore, it is located under the passenger side of the dash, i would definately say it would be coming out of there. And the water pump it driven off of the belt.

Car has a slow coolant leak that I haven't been able to find. When I checked the oil it appears to have water in the oil.

The head gasket may be in peril. I would recommend pressure testing the cooing system overnight with he spark plugs out, then in the morning, hit the starter and see if coolant comes out of the spark plug holes.

How to do distinguise between a water pump leak and antifreeze leak from intake manifolds. car only leaks when system is under pressure, or being driven and then parked. antifreeze is spread from around pullies and belts?

If the waterpump is leaking, you will see the leak from a small weep hole under the pump. For an intake leak, check around where the intake bolts to the engine block. If this is the 3.1L V6, they have a history of intake leaks. Usually, they leak in the front on the passanger side.

Let me know what you find.

Joe

Help Originally i had combustion gasses in the cooling system so i tore it down to replace the head gaskets only to find them in decent shape. So i had the heads pressure checked... no leaks, and surfaced .005", new gaskets and bolted it back up. Started it, ran fine, let it get a temp and checked for heat... had it for half a minute then nothing. Shortly after this the resevior overflowed for a minute or two then sucked dry and the low coolant light came on so i added more only to have it happen again in a few minutes, thinking i had an air pocket i opened the bleeder and no matter how long i left it open or when i opened it i couldnt get a steady stream of water sometimes none. Also dont kno if this is related but the gas needle fluctuates between half and full randomly. After you shut the car off you can hear the coolant boiling back into the resevior and it doesnt want to start again right away you either have to give it a few minutes or give it throttle. The oil is oil and what is left of the coolant/now mostly water is clear! Any ideas greatly appreciated! Thankx

Replace your radiator cap. Usually bad cap will act the way you describe, loss of coolant and boiling reservoir after shut off.

Thankx that was it!

Glad we can help. Come back any time.

Help! My 99 Malibu (3.1 liter - 150k miles) is losing coolant. There are no apparent leaks and the temp guage is a little higher than normal, but not too much. I put coolant in last Sunday and my low coolant light came on again this morning.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

I would take a look at the Intake gaskets. Also look at the oil cap and make sure that it is not going inside the motor. If it is the oil cap will have nasty stuff on the bottom of it...


Cly

Cly is likely right on. The level is actually going down correct?

Thank you for the replys. Took it to the garage on Tuesday and it is the head gasket - told it would be about a $700 job - ouch!!

Thank you again!

1999 Chevy Malibu 6 cyl Automatic 44500 miles

My malibu is leaking antifreeze from the underside of the engine. It's not running hot or anything else (I'm accustomed to radiator problems from a previous car). Can you tell me what you think the problem might be?

It could be leaking from your water pump. Look where your pulleys and belt are at. One of those is your water pump. See if there are any signs of a leak in the area.