Evening!
Yesterday I noticed a puddle of coolant fluid underneath the car. Checked the fluid level and it was far below where it should be, so topped it up this morning (I had some in storage) as I had to use the car and no real time to check for where the leak was coming from. Took the coolant I had spare with me, drove to the office without any issues (no lights, dead perfect on temp, no odd fan behaviour) , and when I got back to the car this afternoon there was a puddle again!
Office garage has pretty good lighting, so had a good look at the hoses and such, but don't see anything obviously leaking. Water pump seems fine, didn't feel anything leaking at the bottom of the pump. Expansion tank *seems* fine.
That said, there clearly was a puddle of coolant again on the floor, and I also noticed a small puddle in the undertray. So topped it off again and drove home. Opened the cap and fluid level seemed fine. Watched for a few good minutes to see if I saw anything dripping, didn't see anything so left it. I've had it sit for the last couple of hours to cool off and had a look just now again, and the puddle has returned. Still don't see it actually dripping fluid.
Anyways, clearly I have a leak. So trying to work out my best bet to further investigate tomorrow when I have some time.
I'm thinking it can't be the pump as the car comes up to perfect temp and stays there. Hoses where dry, so I think I can exclude them too.
Last thing I can think of is the expansion tank.
Does this seem logical? Is there anything else I can look at before just ordering parts and spending a nice Saturday replacing things?
Car has done close to 200k km (125k miles). As far as I know, the pump and thermostat were replaced around 120k km.
If I do replace any parts, anything I need to look out for in terms of special procedures? I assume I'll need to drain the system.
Appreciate any insights!
Yesterday I noticed a puddle of coolant fluid underneath the car. Checked the fluid level and it was far below where it should be, so topped it up this morning (I had some in storage) as I had to use the car and no real time to check for where the leak was coming from. Took the coolant I had spare with me, drove to the office without any issues (no lights, dead perfect on temp, no odd fan behaviour) , and when I got back to the car this afternoon there was a puddle again!
Office garage has pretty good lighting, so had a good look at the hoses and such, but don't see anything obviously leaking. Water pump seems fine, didn't feel anything leaking at the bottom of the pump. Expansion tank *seems* fine.
That said, there clearly was a puddle of coolant again on the floor, and I also noticed a small puddle in the undertray. So topped it off again and drove home. Opened the cap and fluid level seemed fine. Watched for a few good minutes to see if I saw anything dripping, didn't see anything so left it. I've had it sit for the last couple of hours to cool off and had a look just now again, and the puddle has returned. Still don't see it actually dripping fluid.
Anyways, clearly I have a leak. So trying to work out my best bet to further investigate tomorrow when I have some time.
I'm thinking it can't be the pump as the car comes up to perfect temp and stays there. Hoses where dry, so I think I can exclude them too.
Last thing I can think of is the expansion tank.
Does this seem logical? Is there anything else I can look at before just ordering parts and spending a nice Saturday replacing things?
Car has done close to 200k km (125k miles). As far as I know, the pump and thermostat were replaced around 120k km.
If I do replace any parts, anything I need to look out for in terms of special procedures? I assume I'll need to drain the system.
Appreciate any insights!