Venture :: Coolant Leak At Very Slow Rate
Mar 11, 2011
Van has 144k miles on it. It's been well maintained (see my other posts). I have had it since new (7 miles). The LIM was done preventively at about 75k miles (5 years ago).
Two to three years ago it started using/leaking etc coolant at a very slow rate. I would estimate somewhere in the 8-10 fl oz per 3-4 month range. As time has gone on it has been progressively using more. Now it is about 12-14 fl oz in about a month or 6 weeks. My "low coolant" indicator came on the other night. It had been a while since I added any coolant mix. 3-4 months anyway. It took about 1/2 gallon (US). There has been no "real" visible leak,up to now. I noticed yesterday when I was under it doing an oil change, that there was a "film" on the bottom of the trans pan. I followed the trail as best I could and it led me to the rear of the engine near the drivers front wheel. It was a small drop of coolant. (I tasted it). Don't try this at home... From the top of the engine looking in, I followed the upper radiator hose to the thermostat housing "pipe". It is very difficult to see in there. I took a few pix. [URL] ....
It looks like there is a little pool of coolant sitting near or under the thermostat housing that pools on top of where the transaxle bell housing meets the engine block. It's very hard to to see in the pix. Some of what looks to be damp, is actually shadow. This pool I believe runs down the back of the engine/trans, and then is blown on top the trans pan and undercarriage.
The van runs great, I want to keep it for the next 9 years. There is no coolant in the oil, or oil in the coolant. Unless the fix is fairly easy, the leak is still small enough that I am not going to bother with it until it becomes a large leak. The car runs cool even in the hot summer pulling a load. The only issue is the leak and that I have to add coolant every once in a while.
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My wife has a 2006 Touareg V6.
Noticed a coolant leak a week ago, refilled with coolant, and as of today the coolant warning has not come back, so whatever it is must be a very slow leak. Today I took the opportunity with the unseasonable warmth in Chicagoland to investigate.
Got the T-reg up on jacks and belly pan removed, ran the engine while inspecting the bay, didn't see anything.
After I shut the engine off, however, I noticed a small but somewhat steady dripping coming from roughly the middle of the front of the engine block.
Pulled the plastic cover off one of the pulleys, part # reads: 022 121 341. I couldn't find a match anywhere online, but I got tons of results for 022 121 011, which is the water pump.
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My son has a 2007 sonata v6, daughter has one too. Both have about 130K miles, and both developed slow coolant drip leaks. I took off both hoses on both cars, cleaned the crud from the housings and replaced with new hoses and clamps. Problems solved in daughter's car, not so in sons car. I note that it looks like the area below the thermostat housing is wet - and thought that was from the crud/hose situation. But he is still losing coolant, even more now that its getting colder at night, and I's sure its not the hose connection anymore.
The car will generally NOT leak when hot, only as/when it cools off. I.e. puddle in the morning situation.
Looking at the diagrams, it looks like that "housing" is really a connection to the crossover pipe, heater hoses, other stuff (throttle body heat) and also contains what looks like a temp sensor.
I suppose any of these are possible, but my first thought was either a leaky temp sensor (or possibly loose) or something more serious like a cracked housing, leaking o-ring, gasket etc.
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I have a 04" GLI and I was thinking about doing a coolant flush. Looks like I have a slow leak. I was wondering where should I look in order to stop the leak. Put some coolant in about a month ago and now the coolant light is back on. Every morning when I pull out of my driveway there is a small leak under the driver side of my car. Is this an easy fix? If I do decide to do the coolant flush myself what is the recommended coolant replacement?
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I have a 2006 F-150 XL with the 4.2 V6, auto that has a slow coolant leak that I cannot find.
I bought the truck this spring, 190K, drives good, but it leaks coolant. I have added probably 3 gallons of water this summer, this does not bode well for winter.
I can't see any wet spots or steam, but do smell anti-freeze occasionally from outside the cab.
I don't really want to try easter-egging the repair (replacing things that might fix it).
How to find the leak? Or should I just use some form of stop leak.
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I have a small leak of greenish fluid (appears to be coolant) coming from a silver/aluminum tube that runs the length of my van, just above the left rear transaxle. The leak seems to be in the tube, near a support that keeps the tubing flush against the undercarriage. It is a slow leak, but it is dripping onto the transaxle/transfer case, and is beginning to leave a small puddle on my driveway -- gets a little worse each time I drive. I haven't noticed much loss of coolant in the reservoir, so not sure what this is and how to fix it. I have a photo. I am thinking the tubing might be part of the heating system.
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2008 Highlander - super slow coolant leak. Dealer can't find it via pressure test. Never trips sensor, but after 6 months or so, the heater doesn't work well unless turning to the left. Has happened since new, but now Just out of warranty. Dealer has recorded two pressure tests and leak, but I'm wondering what to do.
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I have 2008 VR6 4 motion wagon with about 98K miles. It has been relatively trouble free and I love the car. To try and make it last I am trying to stay on top of maintenance. I had a VW warranty until 72K and got several things fixed along the way. But, I had asked about the one weird thing it does well before it went out of warranty to no avail ("no trouble found").
The weird thing is that sometimes it sort of stutters when I slow down from a high rate of speed quickly, like exiting a freeway. I described it to my new mechanic (no longer beholden to the dealership mechanics) when I was speculating a new transmission might be in order at some point and he said it was probably an issue with the program that tells the transmission when to downshift and to ask about a software update. I did; none available.
Is it firmware related, how to get it fixed?
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On my 1.8t jetta she is leaking coolant slowly. Just started when it got cold out. It is dripping down the oil pan right down the center. It is falling off the oil drain plug. Was reading that it could be the water pump leaking but then it wouldn't be in the center of the pan. Got it jacked up now so here are some pics.
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New truck to me. Truck was advertised with a slow coolant leak. Figured I would trace the leak down and get it repaired no issues. Anyway, working on it this evening I take a close look around the oil filler area and notice the dreaded milkshake color.
I drained the oil out of the truck and the oil actually came out nice and black. Is the headgasket the only area that would cause the oil/coolant mixture? Supposedly the truck has never been overheated.
At any rate, on to find articles on how to pull apart a 4.6L Triton head. I'll see if I'm up to this challenge.
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One last issue with my 2000 B3000 3.0L. The leak seems to be on the left (passenger) side of the water pump very near where the bottom radiator hose connects to it. I can't find any loose bolts. It does not leak while driving the truck or soon after. It has to sit for several hours or overnight before it shows up. There are usually 3 or 4 wet spots where it drips from the water pump to the frame to the driveway. It is small enough that I only have to fill up my coolant tank every 1 or 2 months. Could this just be a small gasket leak? It's been happening for about a year or so I think. I replaced the radiator about 2 years ago. I've been expecting it to get worse or bust loose and have been checking it very often. I've never seen one not leak while running like this-has me puzzled.
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Have a 2002 V6 in the family that's losing coolant at a rate of about an expansion tank every 3 -4 weeks.
I have searched all around with a flashlight, don't see any signs of coolant residue near the radiator, expansion tank or cap, water pump, or heater core connections. Heater core does not smell like coolant. Exhaust does not smell sweet or does not steam once the car is warmed up.
I pressure tested the cooling system on up to 18-20 PSI and still can't find any evidence of anything leaking out anywhere.
I'm going to change the upper and lower radiator hoses this weekend in the thought that maybe it's a pinhole leak once hot and under pressure (I pressure tested cold). Any common things I'm missing where it may leak?
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So I decided to start the year with fresh oil. Like the hundreds of oil changes before, i changed the filter and added new oil. Only this time, oil started to drip off the bottom of the Oil filter at an alarming rate, only when the engine was running.
I figured the filter didn't seal well, so I repeated the oil change process. nothing changed, still leaking.
It was really cold (-10 C) when I did the oil change, I mention this in case it is a contributing consideration.
My truck is a 2000.
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My 02 venture has about 52k. my driver side power window is having an issue. while closing the window, when it reaches the midway point of being closed, it tilts forward a bit, and slows to almost a stop before it finally resumes closing normally.
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My coolant level sensor is bad. How do I replace it? I understand that there is a retaining metal wire holding it on. How do I get that wire off?
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My 99' Venture is leaking antifreeze and was overheating. Ok, so I figure it's something as simple as replace the radiator cap or something. My mechanic says it looks like my manifold gasket is due to be changed AGAIN. If I had one going into the other then I could see why we're talking oil when I'm talking antifreeze. I parked the car cause I have a second car. So the Van sits for 3 months and leaks into the pan I put to protect my driveway.
I could probably have filled a quart container with the puddle created. It looks Orange so yes it's antifreeze and yes it's SLIGHTLY milky when you shake it around. It doesn't show any sign of oil. BUT when I check the oil on the dipstick it's perfectly fine. The car wouldn't start so you'd say jump it right? Did that and nothing, bought a brand new battery still nothing. So I had it towed to a Mechanic. If he can't find it I'm going to plan B, let the dealer diagnose it, get a quote and take it from there.
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I have a power steering fluid leak. I believe (it appears to be) it is coming from what is described in the manual as the "power steering cooling pipe". It looks like it is right up front just behind the radiator on the cross member, and perhaps may have rusted through. All of the pipe is intact except one small corroded area.
I looked at the procedure in the manual to replace this and it looks rather complicated.
I figured I would just cut the leaky section out, and replace it with double hose clamps and a piece of fuel line.
My main question is: Is this in the return circuit (low pressure) or the supply circuit...High pressure.
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I have a slow leak in one of my tires. Loses maybe 1 PSI per day. I've taken the tire off, washed it, examined it closely, used dishwashing soap (to look for bubbles) and cannot find the leak. Even paid close attention to the valve.
So now I'm thinking of using of those cans of sealant, but I'm afraid of damaging the tire pressure sensor.
FWIW, the tires have about 13K miles on them.
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Our 98 Saab's A/C seems to have a slow leak. Do-it-yourself, stop-leak, A/C recharges available at stores like Advance and NAPA Auto?
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My 2004 Mazda MPV with just over 200,000 miles, started experiencing slow warm-up (during warm weather) approximately 5,000 miles ago. Shortly thereafter, I noticed slowly increasing coolant loss. The coolant loss was diagnosed as a cracked radiator, and, while a new radiator was being installed and the system flushed, I had the original thermostat replaced at the same time. The repairs cured the coolant loss problem, and for a short while the car seemed to warm up normally. However, once the weather turned cold, I started experiencing very slow engine warm-up and also have a minimal amount of heat, even after the temp gauge indicates that the engine is up to operating temperature. The rear heater is experiencing the same minimal amount of heat even after the engine is up to temperature.
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Ive been losing 20psi every week for the past month and I've finally had some time to fix it. I figured a leak that small would best be fixed with some slime. But can we use slime with tpms? If not, I guess i'll just have to open up the hole and plug it up.
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