Coolant leak from 1998 Camry 4 cyl

[tommycat95]

Hi,

Have been noticing for the past week that there has been about a quarter cup of coolant leak every other day. I had to refill the tank once and it is still leaking slowly. I had the timing belt and water pump replaced at 108K miles and not it has 136000 miles on it. I notice that the coolant is dropping on the oil pan and then sliding down the oil pan and falling on the garage floor. I have looked at where it might be coming from but cannot see the point of origin. I removed the plastic apron in the wheel well, still nothing that I can see. Where should I look to confirm that the leak is at the weep hole? Also, the local mechanic that did the job used a Bosch water pump. What are your thoughts. Thanks for the help.

tommy

[1996camry]

too many things can be leaking... have a mechanic perform cooling pressure test.. this will reveal where the leaks come from... it could be the cooling hose that IAC goes back under the body throttle, radiator, or water pump. have your mechanic check the leaks before any further damage to the engine. get it fixes right away, and I stop drive the car until the leak fix.

[Ted Striker]

Get someone with a lift to pressure check it. Be sure to have the freeze plugs looked at, the one just above the rear mount(near the firewall) seems to be the first to leak. It's not something a DIY would wanna do.

[JohnGD]

Or see if your local Autozone has a free loaner cooling system pressure checker. Pressurize the system and see where the coolant is leaking from. That the first thing you have to do - find the leak.

[Ted Striker]

What good is that if he already said he couldn't see it? Autozone thrives on guessanostics. The guy giving you the free tools is more than happy to sell you a bunch of subpar parts. There's no magic fixes, no mechanic in a bottle.

[Mister_Perkins]

I wonder if your mechanic didnt remove all the old waterpump gasket, and when installing the new WP it didnt seal correctly?

[JohnGD]

Because a pressurized system helps coolant leak out. Coolant sometimes leak more when cold. So a cold engine plus a pressure tester is better than a warm pressurized cooling system.

Like I said, either an experienced mechanic or a home mechanic, the key to fixing a coolant leak is finding the leak.

Originally Posted by Ted Striker

What good is that if he already said he couldn't see it? Autozone thrives on guessanostics. The guy giving you the free tools is more than happy to sell you a bunch of subpar parts. There's no magic fixes, no mechanic in a bottle.

[Mister_Perkins]

^

+1

[tommycat95]

What John says is absolutely right. Mine seems to leak more when it gets cold. For example, when I park the car after driving it, it has only a few drops of coolant that shows up on my garage floor. When the engine really gets cold, it seems to leak more. I am getting a pressurizer and putting it to the test now. Let see where it goes. I have removed the apron in the wheel well. Do I need to remove the plastic cover that goes all around the wheel well, I mean the big semicircular one that goes from the front of the wheel well to the back, to see the leak?

Thanks for your suggestions. It has been very helpful. Appreciated.

t

[Mister_Perkins]

Yup. remove the tire on the passenger side, and it will expose two bolts that hold a splash shield on the side of the engine. They are 10mm.

[JohnGD]

The side apron ("splash shield" Mr Perkins calls it) is all OP needs to remove. No need to touch the wheel well cover.

See if the leak is coming from the pump housing near the alternator or from under the timing cover or other places such as core plugs.

[tommycat95]

...might be coming from. Thanks to all you folks for your help. I found that the coolant is leaking in the pocket created by the top of the oil reservoir and the junction of the thermostat and the water pump. I felt the bottom of the thermostat joint and that seemed to be dry which can lead to my conclusion that the gasket of the water pump is to blame. The little pocket is wet with coolant when I pressurized. The coolant drip then traces its path down the oil pan and drops to the floor. The foam/sponge that is there in that little pocket is wet with coolant.

Do you think that my analysis is sound on its observation? Please comment. Thanks.

tommy

[carsrus]

It might be the gasket on the pipes that go under the exhaust manifold. You don't need to remove the water pump to change that gasket or the thermostat gasket.

If its been almost 30k after the timing belt change its possible the pump is just bad, but change all the gaskets you can get to before tearing into it.

[tommycat95]

...about the water pump gasket. Like "Carsrus" says, it could be the gasket on the pipes that are called the bypass pipes that could be bad. Reason I say that is, I might have been quick to conclude that the gasket on the water pump could have gone bad. To double check my analysis, I went back and cleaned the area that I refer to as the pocket (formed just above the AC compressor, water pump and the thermostat junction). After cleaning the crud that had collected there (sand and other fine dirt), I was able to confirm that the coolant is leaking on the engine block under the water bypass pipes. The water bypass pipe is connected to the water pump with the "O" ring? Although I am able to ascertain that the leak is on the engine block, I cannot say whether its the gasket on the water pump, or the gasket on the bypass pipes. A little confused there.

Is the weep hole on the water pump on the back of the water pump? Meaning, if I am looking at the gasket that the water pump is bolted to the engine block, is the weep hole in that area under the water bypass pipes? I just wanted to know where the weep hole was.

So, in reality, I have narrowed down the place its leaking from but cannot put my finger on whether its the gasket on the bypass pipes or the gasket on the water pump. Comments are appreciated.

This forum contains some real cool mechanical minded dudes that are willing to generously help. For that I am extremely thankful.

tommy

[JohnGD]

Did the mechanic reuse the water pump housing (with the water inlet pipe that includes the thermostat)? If it's a Bosch pump I think he did. Some pumps can be ordered with a new housing and I'm not sure why anyone would.

To the right of the housing there is a "toothed" o-ring that seals to the engine block. There also is one o-ring to one of the pipes and one gasket to the other. So three seals on the right side of the housing.

You should use a small mirror to check that the coolant is from one or both of the pipes and not from a bad pump housing-to-engine block o-ring. If the bolts on the pipes haven't been touched and are dry then it's probably the engine block o-ring.

Here is a picture, the large circular gasket on the right is the thermostat gasket. The "toothed" o-ring is the water pump housing to engine block o-ring. The smaller o-ring above the bolts is the bypass pipe o-ring. The other pipe takes the gasket to the left of the bolts. And the water pump gasket is to the left. The metal housing is the pump housing, and the water pump bolts to the bottom side of it. You can see where the bypass pipes fit (left with o-ring, right with gasket).

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1268166

The pump weep hole is on the pump, so if you're not seeing coolant on the left side of the pump housing then it's not the pump. You can see the weep hole on the right side:
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=73343

I'd use a mirror or wrap some tissue paper around the pipes but off the engine block. See if the tissues get wet. If they stay dry then my concern is that someone needs to dig into the timing belt area to check that toothed o-ring.