AHHH, coolant leak i cant find!

[ShortCircutLS]

Hello everyone, I think i need some help from you all. Ive read through all the other posts that i can find. About 2 weeks ago i lost heat inside my car. It ran fine for 2 weeks, when i push on the gas pedal the air warms up on both heat and A/C but as soon as i take my foot off, the air gets super cold. Then all of a sudden it overheated and i have a coolant leak right infront of the firewall and it POURS out. We took the driver side tire off and theres a little bit of coolant around my fuel filter but when it pours out, its puddling on the passenger side ! We changed the Tstat and I know its not the overflow. At this point of time im lost.

 

[1LoudLS]

it sounds like the coolant tank(degas bottle) is cracked and dripping down on the fuel filter, very common
not sure about the passenger side leak

 

[Lincoln Jealous]

Hello everyone, I think i need some help from you all. Ive read through all the other posts that i can find. About 2 weeks ago i lost heat inside my car. It ran fine for 2 weeks, when i push on the gas pedal the air warms up on both heat and A/C but as soon as i take my foot off, the air gets super cold. Then all of a sudden it overheated and i have a coolant leak right infront of the firewall and it POURS out. We took the driver side tire off and theres a little bit of coolant around my fuel filter but when it pours out, its puddling on the passenger side ! We changed the Tstat and I know its not the overflow. At this point of time im lost.

theres only 2 ways to know if its the overflow bottle,(degas) pressure test or to manually remove the bottle for inspection, if you did either you would have found your leak.

 

[bagge72]

It seems every coolant leak on here is the degas bottle, I personally just had to replace mine 3 weeks ago. It was leaking right behind the drivers side front tire. When we pressure tested it everything was ok, basically what happened is that it had a bunch of small stress cracks in it over the years, and when it heated up it would expand and let the coolant out. It was much cheaper for an aftermarket one, I got mine from a local parts dealer for $86.00 when Lincoln wanted $125.00 I think with my fathers parts discount. It only takes about a half hour to replace hardest part is getting the lower coolant hose back on it.

 

[Mechanicboy]

bagge72, did you tank come with new hoses? Also, do you think it's worth it to get new hoses?

 

[Andrizzle]

Waiting to go in mine.

Figured I would do this while I have the car torn apart repairing from the accident.

 

[ShortCircutLS]

Ill need to replace a rubber hose. Due to a stab wound from a screwdriver while getting to the Tstat. When I do change the bottle I will replace some hoses that I can get to. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for a new one? Now I'm Debating on risking another cracked bottle from a junk yard. But for $25 with hoses, its worth a try for now !

 

[Andrizzle]

its only 85 bucks shipped - brand new with a cap

 

[joegr]

Ill need to replace a rubber hose. Due to a stab wound from a screwdriver while getting to the Tstat. When I do change the bottle I will replace some hoses that I can get to. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for a new one? Now I'm Debating on risking another cracked bottle from a junk yard. But for $25 with hoses, its worth a try for now !

I think that the problem with a junk yard bottle is that it seems like they are all going to crack eventually. I don't know if it is just age, or if the number of hot/cold cycles is a big factor. Given the amount of work to replace it, I would go with new, so that you don't have to do it again for several years. (It'll probably be someone else's problem by then.)