mtheory42

Hello, I am new to this forum. I have a 1993 Nissan Maxima GXE (VG30E), that has recently developed a strange coolant leak.

I am having trouble diagnosing where it is coming from. From under the car, the drips are coming off the bottom-most crank pulley, but from the top of the engine, it does not appear as though there is any coolant dripping down the side onto it. It is very strange! The rate of the leak is about a drip every one or two seconds. It has forced me to refill the reservoir every one or two days, which is becoming costly and annoying for me.

The symptoms that led me to this discovery (I don't normally check under my car on a regular basis) are:

The engine began to overheat. When I refilled the reservoir, it stopped overheating. So it cannot be anything wrong with the radiator or thermostat or water pump mechanism.

I would smell coolant every once and a while when I am driving. Though I have not seen any signs that coolant is actually being burned.

Very strangely, the coolant return hose from the pump flattens out as if under tremendous suction, when the engine is on.

I am very mechanically inclined, and used to work on Mazda Miatas, but I am not very familiar with this particular engine.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Nathan

mech361

I suspect you may have a leaking water pump, the weep hole leaks behind the timing cover and runs down on the crank pulley. Be sure and check the bypass hose below the distributor and the metal pipe and freeze plugs below the intake manifold as well. The metal pipe and freeze plugs will require the use of a small mirror, good luck.

vernk

i would say the water pump is bad it's not to hard to change just takes some time and if your in that deep i would change the timing belt and theromstat