1989 200TQ

I found a puddle (about a pint) of antifreeze under my car today when I came out of a store. It seemed to come from somewhere near the axle--the puddle was accumulated under the driver side front tire. I checked under the hood and found the coolant level normal and could not find any obvious place where the antifreeze came from. The car has been running a little hotter than usual before the fan kicks on. The temp needle will go almost to the first small dot on the guage, the fan kicks on and the temp goes back down. On the open road it is fine--the temp stays at or below the normal range of the guage. When I pulled into this parking lot today, I could smell a little overheating and I had just been in town traffic. After I came out of the store, I drove the car around the parking lot and no more leaking. I turned it off and let it sit about a half hour (it was still cooled down), and no more leaking. I left the car there and will drive it home tomorrow with someone following. Any ideas where this antifreeze came from? Thanks guys--I haven't been around here in a long time as all has been going well with this old car (actually, I quit driving it any farther than I want to walk, but I was in a pinch today and had to go ;-)

Avant Sport

Maybe from the resevior?

tonyj

Are you sure that it came from your car and not the one that was parked in the same place b4 you?

Could be the bearings are going out on your water pump and it is coming out the 'weep hole' (think audi has those). I had one go out and loose most of the coolant on the highway once. You should be able to see where the problem is by looking under the car.

Tony
'91 100Q 5spd

1989 200TQ

Well, I thought about it coming from another car, but it seems too much a coincidence that I smelled hot antifreeze when I parked it. I did have the auxiliary water pump replaced the last time it was at the garage and after that is when it started running hotter.

1989 200TQ

Nope, checked that.

SteveAngry

Check the heater control valve and various hose(x2) connections to it...

It is located behind the engine above the tranny. If it's leaking it would leak onto the tranny housing then down off the axles, etc...

Also, as suggested, you sure it's your car leaking?

Steve
Michigan

audijim113

the little hose that comes from the rad cap to the resevoir may have a pin hole leak. my wife's 86 5000 was dripping every once in a while and only when i moved the hose with the engine hot did i notice the drip become a pee stream.

the bend where it turns is the most likely place.

comp_jas

the engine will get hotter and the pressure higher. If there is that much coolant the leak should be obvious. I replaced the radiator in mine recently. The radiators like to leak at the seam. Mine only leaked when the engine got up to temp.

1989 200TQ

Thanks for all your input, folks. My thinking is that since the fluid appears to be landing in the area of the center of the front axle (then running to puddle under the tire), the leak must be around the auxiliary water pump or exchanger, right? I'm going to check underneath with a light when I get it back in my garage and will let you know what I find, if anything. I'll let it sit and idle for a while if need be to see where it is coming from. It just makes me wonder if something might have happened when that pump was changed to cause the engine to run hotter, although I can't imagine what.

audiqv8

If your car is overheating (getting hotter than normal) then the radiator cap is releasing the pressure, but a pint is quite alot. Is it getting hotter due to the fact that the temperature is starting to get warmer? You can purchase a dye which will show up under a black light to help find the leak is it isn't obvious.

Go to the following link for more info

http://www.cci-usa.com/leakdetect/ldauto.html