Coolant Leak

[US to CDN SVX]

Well went to change my Oil on Sunday and I noticed coolant on the side of the oil filter. Then I noticed a little drip around the middle of the bottom front of the engine. Is the water pump around there? The level has not gone down yet but smothing is leaking. Where to start?

PS- I bought a VW Westy. On their forums they talk of buying our SVX's with dead tranny's on Craigslist for cheap and putting our engines in their rides. Different world over there and now I see both sides. It is a nice conversion but I love my SVX.

[dcarrb]

If the coolant is coming from inside the timing belt cover then yes, it's probably a leaky water pump/gasket.

dcb

[US to CDN SVX]

Is this a common problem or just age? Not a tonne has come out.

[Hocrest]

Not to uncommon depending on the age/mileage.

The waterpump is at the bottom of the engine on the left side. The bottom radiator hose goes to the thermostat housing which is attached directly to the water pump. If the gasket is leaking, it will probably leak at about the same rate for a while. If the water is coming out of one of the holes on the pump housing, one of the internal seals is wearing out. In my limited experience, internal seal leaks get progressively worse quickly.

To get to the waterpump, you also need to remove the timing belt, so now's a good time to also replace that and the cam and crank seals. There are also two small 90* bypass hoses that connect to the waterpump, these are most likely fairly brittle. Now's a good time to replace them too.

[US to CDN SVX]

Thanks. I will check it out. Bottom left when looking at the engine right? This seems to be where it is coming from. Just did the T-Belt not to long ago. Oh well

[Hocrest]

No. Left and right when used to discuss placement on cars should be from the driving position. The oil filter is on the right front of the engine, the waterpump is on the left front of the engine. It doesn't matter where the water is dripping down. When my waterpump seals went, the drips were coming from the back of the oil pan. The water was running along the top edge of the pan Get the car on ramps and get under there with some towels. Keep drying up the drip and working back to the source.

If the belt was done less than 30K ago, I'd reuse it. Were the seals done at the same time?

How many miles are on the car?

[US to CDN SVX]

84,000 Miles on the car. Paid $1500 at Subaru to get the belt done 3 years ago Oh well. It has hardly lost anything yet but I am keping an eye on it.

[dcarrb]

Originally Posted by US to CDN SVX

It has hardly lost anything yet but I am keping an eye on it.

You should go ahead and get it repaired ASAP. It's only gonna get worse.

dcb

[US to CDN SVX]

Well it is fixed. Turned out to be a leaky top rad hose. I could not see this until the system was preasurized in the shop. Then I found my cam seals were leaking, power steering return line all making a nice mess. Now that this has all be cleaned up I am much happier with winter on the way and my power steering feels much firmer

This is why I change my own oil. To get in touch with my SVX

[Hondasucks]

Yeah, and I've also heard of those Vangon guys paying like 9 grand for an SVX motor w/ wiring but I've never actually SEEN anyone pay that much..

I for one am all for stickin an SVX motor in a Vanagon if it's out of, say, a wrecked SVX, but the tranny problems are relatively easy to fix and it's not like SVXes are a dime a dozen, or everywhere Seems a shame to buy one off CL for cheap and yank the motor and send the rest to the crusher. Sheesh a EJ22 is damn near twice the HP of the Wasserboxer, and it IS twice the horsepower of the air cooled motor! And then some! lol... (And my vanagon got on it pretty good for being the wimpy 1.9L waterboxer...)

[US to CDN SVX]

All the reviews on the SVX beeing in the VW Westies seem to say finally an engine that matches the van. It is sad how people give up on these cars when the tranny's blow and dump them on Craig's List for $2000. But it seems this does happen and I have seen it here in Vancouver. I am quite happy with my slow Vanagon unless my SVX bites it in an accident. Then I would do the conversion if it was a write off. Otherwise I love my SVX and would never touch it. After all it was my Grandpa's car that I inherited and he was an ultimate car enthusiast who owened many great cars in his time. He sold 2nd hand exotic cars through his dealerships in LA through the 50's 60's and 70's and the SVX was always one of his favorites.