sbsmith

I now own a 1998 Z28 with nearly 200,000 miles on it. Everything checked out when I purchased it, but now the car is leaving a small puddle under the right front tire. It seems like an odd place for a radiator or water pump leak, but I'm about 90% certain it's coolant.

Any suggestions?

TedH

Welcome to the site. I suggest posting your question in the tech forum area for a better answer.

JasonD

Moved to the right tech forum.

johnny6

Leaks can travel quite a distance before finally dripping somewhere, you have a few options here:

-Start the car, drive it around until it's fully warmed up and drive it up on ramps. Start by looking in the engine bay for leaks then crawl under the car and investigate.

-Start the car and watch it warm up and look for leaks.

JeeperSC

Get up under the car and look above the puddle and attempt to trace where its leaking from.

sbsmith

Thanks to johnny6 and JeeperSC (my other car is a 1998 Jeep Wrangler). I crawled under the front of the 1998 Z28 while it was running, after it had warmed up completely, but I could not see anything leaking. It's only after it sits for a while that the puddle appears.

WhiteHawk

There are a bunch of things that could leak there. The two most likely are the heater hose connections coming off the water pump. After that, the overflow jug is right in front of the wheel well. Also check the small hose connections right by the fill cap.

Wait until it makes a puddle, then run your hand over all the hose connections I listed above. The wet one is the one that is leaking.

-Geoff

sbsmith

Geoff - Thanks! I'll do that.

JeeperSC

Thats how I located all my leaks. Jack the car up and look directly above the puddle and feel around. I found a leaky head gasket this way.