Hi everyone,

So after my engine started to smoke a little :S I looked at it and realized that it was out of coolant. Filled it up and filled reserve using 50/50 coolant/water (as bottle suggested). Engine now runs nice and cool

However, today I noticed that underneath there were drops of bright green fluid (coolant I suppose). Do I have a leak? Any ideas what the problem may be? Should I just watch it for a while, or go take it to a mechanic right away.

Any help/suggestions would be great! - Thanks

PS (1999, Honda DX Coupe)

 

Yes watch it. Start it up and let it warm up. Look for leaks. Mine is leaking also but I cant find where it is coming from. I keep having to put more and more coolant in it. Hopefully its nothing big.

 

It can actually be big because somethimes the coolant can get into your oil. So i would get that cheked out. Who knows maybe you just need a new hose.

 

Did you change or move any of the hose clamps recently? Do you have a general idea of where in the engine compartment the leak is coming from? How bad is the leak (or, how big is the puddle)?

Best thing to do will be totake the car out for a quick spin to make sure it gets all the way up to temperature, then come back and park the car. Pop the hood, and look for smoke/steam. Wherever the smoke comes from, that is your leak.

Suggestions on a fix will be much easier once we know where exactly the leak is coming from.

Good luck!

 

Well actually this all started a few weeks ago. I was driving and it was running hot. I pulled over and it had no coolant even though I just filled it up on the last little tune up. I dont really remember anything big happening then. Just changed the oil, topped off fluids, basic stuff like that. So anyway back to that one night. I left the car in a mc donalds parking lot and in the morning we went to see what was wrong. We thought it was the thermostat so we took it out. So maybe we didnt clamp something back up right? Who knows I checked it all today and it was fine from just looking. Im going to take if off tommaro to look for cracks or something. I park on gravel so I dont really see any puddle or coolant on the ground. Im thinking it just leaks when I drive.

 

Yeah, chances arewhen you pulledthe hoses off of the t-stat, you messed up the clips. Not your fauly, those clips are crap.If you open them once, they'll never seal right again. I just went through this same thing.

The reason it only leaks when driving, is because the system is under pressure while the motor is running. Like I said before, get it up to temperature so that the t-stat opens and you get coolant flowing through the motor. Pop the hood, and take a look around. You will see smoke coming from the general area of the leak. Once you find it, replace that clamp with a worm clamp, and call it a day

 

I have had the same problem for 2 years now, but you only see coolent leaking in the winter when i go over really deep snow. I cant find the leakand in the 2 years coolent has not gone down much. But this summer I got toflush and replace the coolent. Mabey Ill find the problem when I run the water through.

 

Hey guys, new here. Last year my wifes 99 ex started to overheat, so I replaced the stat drained and replaced the coolant (ended up being the fan switch). I too had a leak that I couldn't find. It turned out that the stat gasket got pinched (justa little) while I was replacing the housing. It was a small leak and it burned off before it had a chance to puddle. Might be worth a look......