Leaking coolant
 

So, it looks like I've developed a very minor coolant leak on the rear passenger side. It's only a couple drops on the floor so I imagine it's a hose, however, I don't know for certain. When I get under the car, the leak (or at least the drip) appears to be coming from an opening kind of close to where the where the suspension goes up to the body. Anyone else encounter this issue? ideas?

When my car had this (47k miles, 8 years old), it turned out to be a cracked coolant reservoir.

You might also try replacing your coolant cap, if it's leaking it allows some of the coolant to boil over.

-james

The reservoir is my second guess, although it only seems to leak after it's been running.

How big a pain was that to replace?

J-Rad, I did the reservoir change on my 2000 a year ago tomorrow. It's not that much fun but definitely doable. I think I spent around 3-4 hours and around $220 or so for the new tank and coolant cap. Here is the write-up I used.

http://www.dietersmotorsports.com/tech/tech9-03-2003.htm

And you will most probably want to pick up something like this if you do it yourself. I bought mine at Sears.

http://www.matcotools.com/ProductImages/hcpr20.jpg

I went ahead and did a mini write up with pics in this thread if you want to check it out.

http://www.986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20261

I was going to do this, but couldn't figure out how to get certain hoses off (no doubt you will know what I'm talking about). I ended up using JB waterweld on the underside of the reservoir.

Something you may want to consider is taking a loaner pressure kit from advanced auto (maybe others have it too). You pay for the kit and you borrow it for whenever. When you are done, you bring them the receipt and they give you the money back. It will allow you to create the 15psi I believe that the system undergoes when the engine is running. That way you can check it underneath without letting your engine run.

Lift up the carpet in the rear trunk and see if there is water underneath it. The carpet itself may not be wet because there is a cardboard panel underneath it. If its wet there the bottle is leaking.

If you undo the nuts that hold the bottle in sometimes you can pull it out enough to get to the hose clamps. Also replace all the hoses while you are in there otherwise you will be doing it again.

chris

What a nightmare!!

I was always scared about RMS leaks... now I have a coolant leak from hell!

Last week I paid $900 for a new Coolant Bottle, because of a leak in the trunk
and under the car on the right passenger side. This week The coolant leak
has started from the middle of the car on the left side.... I guess I'm in for another BIG repair bill.

Not happy!!

Wow, $900 for a new reservoir. Did you take it to a dealer? I paid right around $200 for a new tank and cap and did it myself. $700 tacked on to that for labor seems excessive.

Thanks, Ron! I'll take a look at it sometime this week!
:cheers: