Cooling System leak?

[gcortes]

Hi Everybody,

I recently replaced the (driver's side) radiator (cracked but I had lived with it via some temporary fixes) on my 98 Boxster with a brand new one, the install went fine, no problems other than the usual scraped knuckles. The car runs as well as before, but seems to run hotter now. By my estimate the car is running at about 210 degrees (the temperature needle is right in the middle of the "0" on the 180 degree number) when it used to run about 20 degrees cooler. The big issue I have is that I am now leaking some sort of fluid (it doesn't smell like coolant and I'm trying to avoid the taste test) from around the middle of the car, towards the passengers side, conveniently difficult to get to (it's not the overflow drain from the trunk). The amount of fluid is small, like you would see from running your AC on a hot day.

My long-winded questions are: Has anyone experienced this kind of problem before? Could I have caused a pressure increase that caused me to blown something and that is the cause of the leak? If I take it to a mechanic, any rough idea as to how painful would it be to address?

Thanks for your time and help.

Regards,

Gabriel

[1schoir]

Hi Everybody,

I recently replaced the (driver's side) radiator (cracked but I had lived with it via some temporary fixes) on my 98 Boxster with a brand new one, the install went fine, no problems other than the usual scraped knuckles. The car runs as well as before, but seems to run hotter now. By my estimate the car is running at about 210 degrees (the temperature needle is right in the middle of the "0" on the 180 degree number) when it used to run about 20 degrees cooler. The big issue I have is that I am now leaking some sort of fluid (it doesn't smell like coolant and I'm trying to avoid the taste test) from around the middle of the car, towards the passengers side, conveniently difficult to get to (it's not the overflow drain from the trunk). The amount of fluid is small, like you would see from running your AC on a hot day.

My long-winded questions are: Has anyone experienced this kind of problem before? Could I have caused a pressure increase that caused me to blown something and that is the cause of the leak? If I take it to a mechanic, any rough idea as to how painful would it be to address?

Thanks for your time and help.

Regards,

Gabriel

Gabriel:

The location of the leak may indicate that it is coming from the water pump.

Pull off the engine panel that is behind the seats and have a look at the water pump to see if there is any coolant leaking from behind the water pump pulley.

It's the pulley that is all the way to the left and a little below the lip of that rear firewall when the panel is off. As such it will be hard to tell whether it is leaking as you can get a better look from underneath, but at least you will be able to determine if that is the exact area that the leak is coming from.

If it is the area, go under the car and have a better look.

Regards, Maurice.