Antifreeze leak.... Again....

[tubaplyr7]

Hello everyone. Seems to be a winter tradition to fix some kind of antifreeze leak. The last two/three years it was the thermostat housing and this year I thought it was the water pump. Turns out I'm wrong. I am still getting a steady drip from the front passenger of the engine but only when the car is on. For some background. It got super cold here the week before Xmas, like -4 to -6°f. I noticed a puddle of antifreeze from the car in the snow. I let it sit because I didn't have time, but now I've changed the water pump and multiple hoses and it still leaks. My suspicion is it's somewhere between the water pump and heater core. Any one on here have any experience with this?
Thanks in advance,
Luke V

 

[Pete Deering]

Hello everyone. Seems to be a winter tradition to fix some kind of antifreeze leak. The last two/three years it was the thermostat housing and this year I thought it was the water pump. Turns out I'm wrong. I am still getting a steady drip from the front passenger of the engine but only when the car is on. For some background. It got super cold here the week before Xmas, like -4 to -6°f. I noticed a puddle of antifreeze from the car in the snow. I let it sit because I didn't have time, but now I've changed the water pump and multiple hoses and it still leaks. My suspicion is it's somewhere between the water pump and heater core. Any one on here have any experience with this?
Thanks in advance,
Luke V

Freeze plug, take a look at the front ones?

 

[Lee's Automotive]

Check your heater control valve those can leak and usually will only leak when the system is under pressure

 

[tubaplyr7]

A little update, I drove it to work today, because I had no choice, it tried to overheat once, but immediately got back down to temp, (my guess is an air bubble in the system). It would blow hot air off and on inside the cab, still working out the air I'm guessing. When I got to work it wasn't leaking anywhere I could see.
As far as freeze plugs go, I have no idea where they are located on this engine. I think I saw one on top of the block behind the thermostat housing and it seemed to be ok. But whats the best way to find the other ones.

The heater control valve does have some evidence of leaking, but I don't think its leaking that much.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Motors don’t try to overheat. It did overheat. You’ll need to figure out the “air bubble” it’s not going to figure itself out. Only blowing hot means you have too little coolant, or not enough flow.

If you keep driving it the only thing to figure out is how to afford a new motor.

 

[Lee's Automotive]

Motors don’t try to overheat. It did overheat. You’ll need to figure out the “air bubble” it’s not going to figure itself out. Only blowing hot means you have too little coolant, or not enough flow.

If you keep driving it the only thing to figure out is how to afford a new motor.

Yep he will eventually blow the headgasket or worse

 

[Fix4Dirt]

Yep he will eventually blow the headgasket or worse

unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you see it, motors are not yet sentient. unlike a certain shark, motors for one bad reason or another do not say "im out" its a good reason

 

[tubaplyr7]

It's odd because I watched the temperature gauge, rise normally, stay steady, then jump up and jump back down to normal within a few seconds. I can't help but think the engine did not go from normal to overheating then back to normal within those few seconds. I've also watched the same vehicle tell me I had no oil pressure when in deed my oil pressure was fine and the sensor was bad.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Or, you don’t have enough coolant, and you got some boiling hot coolant up on the sensor and it rose, and then there wasn’t coolant and it dropped.

 

[C420sailor]

Remember that overheating isn’t defined by a gauge. It’s defined by a few things that actually happen inside the engine/cooling system. Semantics, I know.

That said, as mentioned, it either overheats or it doesn’t.

“Do or do not, there is no try.” -Overheating Explorer

Have you been running the proper mix? That isn’t cold enough to freeze 50/50…but I’d still pressurize the system with a tester and check the freeze plugs. Although they can always leak from corrosion.