Low coolant
- Thread starter CHICO2003
- Start date
question is... how damaging (if any) is this leak??? I mean... does it affect performance??? (the leak that is, not a low level -or no- coolant) obviously that would have some negative consequences... anywayz, I'm takin her in tomorrow. bastards better have some answers for me!!! LOL
Here is the usual problem in the pics above..... I'll take a pic of my engine tomorrow morning my fix.
I've found out from talking to a few people and from the fix of my leak that it's usually just a weak clamp that the dealership uses. When things heat up they loosen up and slide back ever so slightly. That's why ours arent HUGE drips where you have a puddle every morning. It's just a loose seal so when things heat up and hoses expand a wee bit, then our drip gets going an usually splashes right on the engine making a nice and stinky smell that we can't find.
Anywho the fix is simple.... get the clamps that you screw to tighten (I think they're called WORM clamps). They're like $2 for a pack of 6 different sizes. It's a lot easier to spend $2 and 15 minutes of your time fixing this thing yourself (if you can) than taking it to the dealership and dealing with their bulls***.
Like I said, I'll post pics tomorrow.
Hope this helps a bit
- :
- 2003.5 Titanium Gray MSP #1699
Mine is exactly like Pkay's... :wtf: is going on?
1) move old clamp back a bit..... you can't take it off unless you drain your coolant. Reason being if you take off that hose coolant will go everywhere. So simply move clamp back
2) Push the hose forward (in direction of arrow). Push fairly hard and run your finger around the circumfrence of the hose to make sure it's fit all the way (this is where the problem was at.... the hose doesn't meet perfectly on the bottom side with the stock clamp)
3) Put the worm clamp on and tighten it down. As it gets tighter push the hose in more to insure it's still fit.
4) once the worm clamp is in place push the old clamp up so it's flush with the worm clamp.
Viola! Now you should have a perfect fit and double the support. No leak etc etc
jrodhotrod
Contributor
- :
- 2003 Mazda Protege5 (Mine) 2002 Nissan Sentra GXE (Wife's)
Nice pictures and documentation for solving the chronic coolant leaks
old thread, sorry if i step on anyones toes reviving it, but i noticed when i got back to MI after driving the car home from NC, the coolant was at the low mark on the resevoir, and my mom had mentioned that as she was standing next to the front drivers side corner (where the resevoir is) that she could smell coolant, i checked it out and sure enough i could to... so i filled it up to full the next day since it didn't seem to be fluxuating at all, i just checked it earlier today and it is now halfway between full and low, i looked for a leak but i cannot see any splatter anywhere, and there is not a puddle underneath my car, i am planning on taking it into the dealership soon so tihs shouldn't be a terribly big problem, i've got a big jug of coolant to tide me over until then , but if anyone has any idea's, or would like to point out how i stupidly over-looked something very minor, please feel free to let me know, or make me look like a fool , either way i just wanna know whats wrong ...
[edit]just a side note, someone had posted a picture of their engine bay and i noticed that they had a hose running from the cap of the resevoir, i *dont* have that, i did a quick search on cardomain of other peoples engine bays and they all looked the same as mine, not sure if it makes a difference at all, but its definitly not leaking out of the little spout on the cap, and it appears to have some sort of breather valve setup so i doubt it would be evaporating out of it, just thought i'd throw that tid bit in tho[/edit]
, but if anyone has any idea's, or would like to point out how i stupidly over-looked something very minor, please feel free to let me know, or make me look like a fool , either way i just wanna know whats wrong ...[edit]just a side note, someone had posted a picture of their engine bay and i noticed that they had a hose running from the cap of the resevoir, i *dont* have that, i did a quick search on cardomain of other peoples engine bays and they all looked the same as mine, not sure if it makes a difference at all, but its definitly not leaking out of the little spout on the cap, and it appears to have some sort of breather valve setup so i doubt it would be evaporating out of it, just thought i'd throw that tid bit in tho[/edit]
the rubber hose is nothing more than a little rubber hose that does alot of nothing. I've noticed some msp's have it on there and some do not. If it makes you nervous you can go to any auto parts store and get yourself some hose to fit it and cut about 1 inch and connect it to that nipple.JHew84 said:old thread, sorry if i step on anyones toes reviving it, but i noticed when i got back to MI after driving the car home from NC, the coolant was at the low mark on the resevoir, and my mom had mentioned that as she was standing next to the front drivers side corner (where the resevoir is) that she could smell coolant, i checked it out and sure enough i could to... so i filled it up to full the next day since it didn't seem to be fluxuating at all, i just checked it earlier today and it is now halfway between full and low, i looked for a leak but i cannot see any splatter anywhere, and there is not a puddle underneath my car, i am planning on taking it into the dealership soon so tihs shouldn't be a terribly big problem, i've got a big jug of coolant to tide me over until then
[edit]just a side note, someone had posted a picture of their engine bay and i noticed that they had a hose running from the cap of the resevoir, i *dont* have that, i did a quick search on cardomain of other peoples engine bays and they all looked the same as mine, not sure if it makes a difference at all, but its definitly not leaking out of the little spout on the cap, and it appears to have some sort of breather valve setup so i doubt it would be evaporating out of it, just thought i'd throw that tid bit in tho[/edit]
As for the smell that's to be debated. I'll let different people chime in on that one.
BTW bumping an old thread is much better than starting a new one on the same topic. So keep doing it if you question is relevant to the existing thread. Being a bran new owner, older issues will be new to you.
ya, i've been a member on probetalk.com for a long time, and it seems like even if someone revives an old thread over there they get pist, something about all the information is there already, just gotta search, blah blah blah, figured i'd cover my ass ...
but i looked this morning before i headed off to work, i thought that the hose might run from the cap down to another nipple or something, but when i couldn't find another nipple i just said F-it, i dont need that lil peice of rubber lol... and i also looked VERY closely today, at the specific spots that are pointed out in those pictures, and i dont see any coolant residue, the engine bay is relativly spotless, i guess i'll just wait for a few more people to throw their .02 in, and in the mean time see if the coolant wants to drop any lower, i guess i'll start looking for puddles every time i leave somewhere too...
...but i looked this morning before i headed off to work, i thought that the hose might run from the cap down to another nipple or something, but when i couldn't find another nipple i just said F-it, i dont need that lil peice of rubber lol... and i also looked VERY closely today, at the specific spots that are pointed out in those pictures, and i dont see any coolant residue, the engine bay is relativly spotless, i guess i'll just wait for a few more people to throw their .02 in, and in the mean time see if the coolant wants to drop any lower, i guess i'll start looking for puddles every time i leave somewhere too
...Typically with a leak you get some pretty obvious residue if you are willing to stick your head down there. Keep in mind the overflow will fluctuate based on tempratures. So for example during the summer mine was almost overflowing after very hard runs (my bay runs hella hot with the fmic etc) and now there is less than an inch in the overflow bottle. I have no leaks it's just temprature differences. After a really hard run even in these cooler ambient temps it will start to fill up with overflow.JHew84 said:ya, i've been a member on probetalk.com for a long time, and it seems like even if someone revives an old thread over there they get pist, something about all the information is there already, just gotta search, blah blah blah, figured i'd cover my ass
but i looked this morning before i headed off to work, i thought that the hose might run from the cap down to another nipple or something, but when i couldn't find another nipple i just said F-it, i dont need that lil peice of rubber lol... and i also looked VERY closely today, at the specific spots that are pointed out in those pictures, and i dont see any coolant residue, the engine bay is relativly spotless, i guess i'll just wait for a few more people to throw their .02 in, and in the mean time see if the coolant wants to drop any lower, i guess i'll start looking for puddles every time i leave somewhere too
just to update, it appears to be staying level at half, not going any higher, not going any lower, so i'm just gonna leave it alone, i think most of it was me TRYING to find things wrong with the car, and over-emphasizing every little thing...
thanks for the help anyway (thumb)
- James
thanks for the help anyway (thumb)
- James
