MX-3.com

was driving around and all of sudden noticed my temp gauge going up more and more bit by bit, so i drove home and stopped let it cool, checked coolant and its empty. Prior to that ive noticed having some fluid under car wherever its been parked i just thought it was condensation from sprinklers or something, didnt notice it, but i didnt look like coolant cause it looked like just water, no green fluid on ground(coolant) and i see its leaking from right side of engine (its K8)
i cant really see where its coming from but below where you fill up coolant you know, i thought maybe its head gasket just went on me, checked oil and its fine, usual color, not milky like if youd have it when head gasket goes out. so whats wrong with it, that made my day bad...

I noticed the exact same thing on my car today..except mine seems to leak on the left side..hope you found your problem..I'll start to check for mine as soon as I'll get home from work

your water pump is most likely the problem.

Originally posted by jimishadow:
your water pump is most likely the problem.

if that message was for me..the pump only have 4 months of use so i doubt it

Either case could be as simple as a seeping radiator hose or especially a loose hose connection. It's simplest thing to ck. first anyway. Park on a dry area, lay some newspaper on the ground under the engine. Start the engine and watch for the dripping leak under the car. When ya spot it, trace upward into the engine bay and you should eventually spot the source point. The actual source might be some distance in the engine bay from where the leak shows under the car.

Mitmaks, could that clear fluid be normal condensate from your a/c system operating? That H20 drain for getting rid of a/c condensation is in the area you describe-right side-near the firewall...

The quickest solution if it is a small leak is a product called "leak stop". you pour it into your rad and it plugs any holes like that.

The stuff works too. best thing to use if it is your rad which is having the leak, not just a cracked hose

no i dont use my A/C and it was in same area where coolant leaks now and it doesnt seem leaking where hose connected to engine, more below where pulleys/belts are so i cant really see it

Hmmm... your description immediately makes me think of waterpump too but you said the pump was replaced 4 mos. ago. Maybe one or two pump mounting bolts loosened slightly, just enough for the leak to develop around the pump housing gasket or maybe (if the replacement was a reman) it became defective?? Dunno more with layin eyes on it.

would coolant leak out if water pump went out?

Originally posted by mitmaks:
would coolant leak out if water pump went out?

Typically the answer would be yes. Coolant starts leaking out around the permanent seal/bearings that support the shaft which connects between your pump "outside" belt-driven pulley and the internal pump impeller (pulley type thing w/fins) that actually moves the coolant. Usually a leak will start slowly around this shaft and steadily get worse until the stuff just pours outta there. You can spot it if you can get eyes on that pulley/shaft area. Since your pump is so new, it could still be a leaky H20 pump housing gasket too. Transverse mounted engines set up a lot of vibrations that can cause mounting bolts to loosen over time.

this happened to me last year. I would inspect your upper and lower rad hose for tiny cracks. Mine had a pin hole leak that would drain my overflow bottle each trip. The symptoms were this: driving on the highway and all of a sudden my temp would shoot up. Pulled over, turned off the car, looked at the engine, turned it back on, and it was normal again. Noticed some coolant sprayed over the side of the engine, and soon found the leak in the hose.

Mx's are getting old enough now that its a good idea to put new rubber rad hoses on just for reliability sake.

Eugene L
1.6DOHC
N.S.canada
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/552384

sorry i didnt say my water pump is new, and its probably has never been changed and engine got 80k miles so i guess it finally gave out. how much would this cost at mechanic? probably hard to do myself

Originally posted by RoundTop:
The quickest solution if it is a small leak is a product called "leak stop". you pour it into your rad and it plugs any holes like that.

The stuff works too. best thing to use if it is your rad which is having the leak, not just a cracked hose

use stop leak only if you wanna clog up your rad, its ok to use for a cheap fix on a cheap car just to drive, but i would NEVER use it on a car i care about

when i bought my mx-3 the water pump was broken and it was doing exactly what you were describing, the water pump costed me $100(it was a rebuilt one) canadian. i got it from a company called carquest.
You could have a mechanic do it for you, but it would be expensive, its like a 3 hour job, so your better off to do it yourself, it took me about 5 hours to do mine.
goodluck.