Patman

Here is the situation: the other morning after driving 25 miles to work, I popped the hood to top up the washer fluid, and immediately smelled coolant and saw a few drops of coolant on the rubber elbow leading into the throttle body. A quick check around saw no evidence of leaking anywhere, and no puddles under the car at all. That morning it was around -9F. The next morning it was around 20F and I popped the hood again after arriving at work, and saw no coolant at all (just the dried residue from before).

Yesterday morning it was 0F and again I saw coolant in the same spot.

Does anyone else get minor coolant leaks in extreme cold? Where is it coming from? The water pump, thermo housing, throttle body hoses and all hoses I can see up top look in great shape and are totally dry. It's puzzling!

Laymaster

Don't deal with that kinda extreme cold but similar temperatures here in New Jersey.

When's the last time you changed your water pump? Perhaps it's starting to go, and a few drops are coming out the weep hole. That's how it started with me, then in a few weeks it started pissing coolant. Just a suggestion though. Might be dripping out the weep hole a tad and hitting the accessory belt, and splashing upward to your intake elbow.

Patman

That's what a few others have suggested to me as well. The water pump is original I believe, with 78k on the engine.

I don't see any coolant whatsoever on the ground though, so if it was dripping out of the weep hole wouldn't I at least see a few drops show up underneath the car?

Is it possible this leak is coming from the bleeder valve? This happens to be right near where I see the coolant drops, although the valve does look dry.

This morning in 10F weather I didn't see any additional coolant on the intake elbow.

shoebox

In the beginiing, it may only weep enough to get some coolant on the crank pulley and belt and never touch the ground. As the system cools off, pressure subsides and the leaking stops. As it progresses you may see intermittent puddles under the car.

Patman

How long does it have before it's toast? I want to know if I should bring it to the dealer and have them change it ASAP or can I wait a couple of months and have a friend (hello Dr.Zed!) change it for me when this cold weather lets up.

shoebox

I put quite a few miles on mine after I noticed the first signs (this is before I knew what I know, now). I was actually on a 2000 mile trip when it got the worst. Never had any problem with the temperature and was able to get it home ok. What you need to be careful of is that it does not foul your optispark.

JETMAN95Z28

wow that is strange..... my winter beater truck did EXACTLY the same thing when it got down below zero last week. Now that it has warmed up to the 20-30's it's entirely stopped. It left a small 4"-5" puddle underneath the front of the truck and I could see it was coming from the upper radiator hose. The clamp was TIGHT too. I GUESSED I had a radiator conection slightly out of round and the EXCESS cold temps caused it to contract enough to leak and after warming up went back and sealed OK..... just a guess though. ANYONE else have this happen??? to ANY vehicle not just an F-body

Patman

Earlier this week I also got an email from a friend of mine who said his old Thunderbird leaks a bit of coolant in extreme cold but never anytime else. It's done this for years now.

I wish I was so lucky, I have a feeling I'll be getting my water pump changed before the year is out.

JETMAN95Z28

well if it's any consolation, my truck has a new water pump and is only leaking at a hose connection. Are you sure yours might be coming from a TB bypass or heater hose?

Patman

That's the problem, I can't tell where it's coming from, since everywhere I look (at least from up top) I see dry connections with no evidence of any leaking at all.

JETMAN95Z28

last week when it was -1 F I was warming it up for work and I popped the hood (after 5 minutes of idle) and it was pretty wet. I had to feel the underside of the hose (top looked dry) to actually find the source. It's the only time I could "catch" it and find the source. Do you have a small inspection mirror. They can be helpfull in finding these. Or if you know anyone with one of those cooling system Pressure Pumps and crank it up to 15 psi or so in hope of finding your leak. Good luck. I know this little stuff like LEAKS drive me nuts!