Story:

I looked on the garage floor, and for the past few cold days, the '95 Z28 has been leaking an ounce or so of coolant each day from the center of the car on the garage floor. I looked underneath it with a flash light, and there's coolant drips on top of the suspension piece I can't remember the name of at the moment--the circular tubing bar that goes between the wheels. I looked at the water pump (I believe) where the bleeder screw is, and it was dry, so I don't see an obvious problem.

The Question:

What is the likely culprit here? Is it the water pump going bad?

 

it very well could be the water pump going out. it is also possible the gaskets/bolts on the water pump leaking however that is much more unlikely. on the underside of the water pump is a small hole. this is the weep hole and the pump will leak from there when it is on its way out. this can be very bad because the weep hole is directly above the optispark (distibutor) and coolant/water/moisture of any kind has a large possibility of destroying the opti. new optisparks are also unfortunately a pretty expensive item to have to replace. personally i would not drive the car until the coolant leak is fixed so you wont destroy the opti and cost yourself a lot more moolah. check out shoebox's website. he has put together an amazingly helpful site with lots of pictures, info, and how to dos. shbox.com

 

Okay, my sister drove the car to the dentist this morning, brought it back at 8am, and I just jacked it up and crawled under there and looked around 3 hours later. She claimed the power steering was stiff when the car was cold. I checked the fluid, it was a tiny bit low, but not below the ADD line. Coolant overflow tank was 3/4 a water bottle low on fluid, so I added enough to get it to the COLD line.

Anyway... the coolant drain plug is leaking at the seal for some reason, but that is a really minor leak I think. I tightened it another 1/8 of a turn. I think it needs a new gasket.


Something is leaking all over the steering rack, whatever that bundle (of wires?) is underneath the plastic sheath, the metal that scapes on speed bumps, and that suspension tube I don't know the name of.



I checked the water pump, and being the extreme amateur mechanic I am, I can't conclude anything about what I see. It looks like it's been weeping, but I wiped it with my glove and it's dry and nothing came off but black soot. Does the water pump get hot enough to evaporate evidence of a leak? Is this the source of the leak?


The power steering hose on the rack doesn't seem to be leaking, and we had this replaced last year, so it's pretty new. Since the intake manifold gasket has been leaking slight amounts of oil for nearly a decade, it's hard to tell what oil is what.


There's coolant drips on the passenger side spark plug wires.


It looks like the coolant has mixed with some oil in this spot, but I can't tell if this would be power steering fluid, or the more likely source--antifreeze leaking down some oily sludgey mess from the intake manifold.


Can anyone advise me what the likely problems are? Where is this coolant leak, or where are these coolant LEAKS coming from?

 

The staining around the waterpump is a good sign it's leaking. It may not leak all the time, perhaps only under pressure.

Fix the gasket on the petcock valve and replace the water pump.

Also check the water neck and upper hoses, like the throttle body hoses (if you haven't done the TB bypass), heater hoses, etc.

 

Yep - 100% it's your water pump going out. That stain is dried coolant on the bottom of the waterpump where it is coming out of the wheep hole. Change it now as prolonged it will eventually kill the opti as well.

BTW - that suspension metal tube (LOL) is your Sway Bar.

 

Sway bar! Hooray! The correct word .

Lame news for sure, but thanks for the advice and opinions guys. Guess I'll be taking it to the dealership to get the work done. Going to end up getting the "did you know you have a lot of oil seeping through your gaskets?" speech...

 

OMG - I didn't even look at the original poster.

U got me Brangeta!!!!!

 

I got you? How?

 

R U Serious????? As long as you've been around LT-1's you don't know the signs of a WP going bad and to steer clear of the dealer for maintenance work? Please tell me you're pulling my leg!!!!!

 

:-p When it comes to cars, I'm the type that doesn't like to get my hands dirty unless I'm just replacing a jounce bumper, cleaning the car, or doing something else really simple. This car is still on its original water pump as far as I know, unless it went bad when I was about 14 years old. Still on the original opti for sure.

The guy who WAS doing all the service on the car I can't get ahold of--called him 4 times, voicemail each time. The other guy who's worked on it, I can't get ahold of either, I think he went down the tubes. I haven't contacted my "plan C" yet, but I haven't talked to him in years and not sure where he's at... I talked to the dealership, and they said the labor would be $284, and the new pump about $440 but I could supply my own replacement as long as it was an official GM part and they'd put it on. So I could save about $200...

Just for the convenience of not having to wait 3 weeks to get it done by a single person, I am very tempted to go through the dealership...

 

It's a shame you don't live on the east coast. I'd do it at my shop for $100 out the door.

 

Hell if you got it to Houston, I'd help you out for a case of beer. Had mine off and on several times and it's a hour job (MAX).

 

Thanks guys , but I don't think making a trip is an option right now .

I talked to my "plan C" and he's no longer working at a dealership or shop and kind of floundering unemployed trying to figure out what he's going to do now.

I think I'm stuck with the dealership right now.

 

X2 on the water pump. Make sure you don't go to autozone and buy one, that would be a bad mistake. You can get a GM water pump for $280 brand new, I did. I called my local dealer and got a good guy on the phone. His name is Doug and his direct line is
602-604-3019. He is super cool and knows his stuff. The $280 is the wholesale price which he gave me about a month and a half ago(retail almost $500). He is out of phoenix, but they can ship anywhere, and you would still save hundreds. Make sure you also replace all of the hoses if you are doing a water pump, don't cheap out and try to have them re-used. Unless they are nearly new, they will leak for sure.

 

You can buy a Gm water pump from Summit Racing for 229.95..I bought mine a few yrs ago for 195.00 from Summit...so the price has gone up a bit.