Coolant Leak....Please help!

Mazoku · Dec 26th, 2002, 12:52 AM

Bear with me here. I'm a girl who knows very little about cars, but I want to learn and I want to fix this myself. Only things I've done to a car before (not this one) is install a boost gauge and oil changes.

I've got a 200SX SE-R with 45k miles. I've got a small coolant leak. First sign was a bit of coolant pooled by the lip of the shield underneath the car below the alternator. I checked my overflow and it was very low. I refilled it, and in the 2 weeks since then, its gone down about 3/4 inch. If I feel the bottom of the hose where it attaches to the thermostat after a drive, theres usually one drop of coolant. Even when the hose is dry and the car's been sitting for a while, I can still smell coolant on my hand after I touch it. I left something under the thermostat overnight to see if it leaked, and it didn't. So either its not the right place or it only leaks when its hot. Tried tightening the hose to the thermostat, didn't make a difference.

I'm thinking I should replace the hose and thermostat. Do you think this will fix the leak? Should I only replace one, and not the other? Or could the problem be somewhere else? I know this isn't a huge problem, but its driving me CRAZY and I must get it fixed ASAP.

azkicker0027 · Dec 29th, 2002, 09:30 PM

best bet is too pressurize the system with the engine off and check where it leaks, a good 15 to 20 psi of pressure ought to do it, and if you have overheating problems, it may be thermostat related, but less likely to cause a leak, unless it's the thermostat housing itself..........

azkicker0027 · Dec 29th, 2002, 09:31 PM

not to discourage you or anything, are you REALLY sure you want to do this by yourself.......???.........

Mazoku · Dec 30th, 2002, 07:52 PM

Actually I figured it out...I just replaced the wire clamp that attaches the hose to the thermostat with a band clamp...that actually fixed it! I was going to change the hose, I even bought one, but I didn't need to after all...