Big time coolant leak!
 

I back into my usual parking spot at lunch today and I noticed a trail of coolant underneath the engine. For the life of me I cannot tell where it is coming from. It is basically running down the oil pan trickeling onto the ground while the engine is idling. The radiator is bone dry, hoses leading into and out of the radiator are dry. The overflow res is dry (not cracked). My thoughts are the water pump or heater core neither of which I can visually locate/see. I only ran it a couple of miles, temp gauge is registering in the normal range. The cooling system still has some fluid in it as when I start it it starts to leak again. Radiator is not full of coolant anymore. Engine did not appear to overheat. Power - fine, no noises.

Any thoughts?

How much too replace the water pump? What is entailed in that job?

Sorry to hear about your problems.

Don't turn over the engine too much if the rad is dry. If the pump is still working, it will pump the block dry and damage the heads, no matter what the gauge says.

Take off the guard underneath the radiator. Pour some water into the rad [no point in wasting precious coolant] and see where it is coming out. You may be right about the water pump, the heater core gone would probably wet the interior of the car. I think the radiator core sides are plastic, so you could have a split there either.

If it's the pump, a good bit of work is involved. The cam belt has to come off, so you need to watch setting the timing on replacement. Depending on mileage, you might consider replacing the oil pump while in there, as the labour will be a high proportion of the total cost of the job. You'll probably also replace the belt, I would.

In terms of disruption, it will be easiest for you if it is a hose split, or even the rad has split.

Best of luck with it.

Joe:)

Joe pretty much has said it all.

Obviously, though, there are those pesky "pinhole leaks" that come for whatever reason, that are so hard to detect.

Check the neck of the radiator at the top hose. This has been a trouble spot for some. Even a hairline crack, under pressure, can turn out some pretty good volume. Splitting seams are another hard to detect defect. You may have to end up putting some additive that's only visible with black light before you find the offending defect.

Diagnosis
 

My shop has informed me that the water pump has failed/broken/exploded. Now, I doubt any engine damage has occured as I retraced my last couple of trips in the car and the last three trips consisted of short 3-5 mile jaunts in relatively cool weather. The good news is that when it was driven onto the flatbed it was still leaking coolant which I presume is a good sign. Presuming no engine damage what are the items I should have replaced with this disassembly. Obviously, timing belt, water pump. What tensioners, pulleys, seals should be changed?
Right now my shop is quoting $875 for labor and parts (timing belt, water pump, and a couple of other minor things which I forget now).

Tensioners, pulleys and so on should be OK. The shop will replace the relevant seals as a matter of course included with the job.

I did mention the oil pump, and if your mileage is anything over 120K, replace it, it is not major expense.

Ask the shop to check if there are any leaky oil seals while they are in there. Now is the time to do them if leaky, they tend to fail with time. [They will be behind the pulleys, hard to see a leak without stripping everything]

Joe