Coolant Leak in trunk AND under seats

[zappbranigan]

I've been researching coolant leaks, which is an obvious well talked about problem here on Renntech.

But I can't find any posting which addresses an additional symptom of my problem. I have the usual residue under the trunk carpet and the "old" cap which needs to be replaced with the 01 version. I'm going to start with the cap and wait and see on the expansion tank.

But I've never noticed ANY coolant leaking under the car, which seems to be a major clue that the coolant tank or cap is bad. Here's where my story differs: While taking out the seats to investigate my heated seats not working, I discovered a lot of sitting liquid under the drivers seat UNDER the carpet. The carpet was sticky...not really wet. All the foam padding was saturated too. After pulling back the carpet...green coolant liquid was sitting in all the wells up to the brake/accelerator pedals. I found the same under the passenger side too.

The engine has never run hot. No smoke ever. Temp light has never "red-lined" There was still about 3-4 inches of coolant left in the tank. The loss doesn't apear major, but it's really ruined the carpet.

AFter reading about coolant leaks here, I'm beginning to think it's the water pump. (?)

CAN ANYBODY VERIFY THAT THE WATER PUMP WOULD BE ALLOWING COOLANT TO ENTER THE INTERIOR COMPARTMENT LIKE THAT? It just seems really odd since the metal lid separating the engine compartment from the car's interior is padded and almost water tight.

Thanks,

Joe

St. Louis, MO

[Beelzy]

It could be possible if one or more of the drain holes for the top are plugged. It happens with a heavy rain too!

Sounds like either the water pump or a damaged coolant line. There is a lot of plumbing going on behind the seats.

Edited November 23, 2008 by Beelzy

[zappbranigan]

Can I start up the car, let it run for a bit, then be able to tell where it's coming (if it's a coolant hose) from with the engine compartment lid from behind the seats off?

[1schoir]

Can I start up the car, let it run for a bit, then be able to tell where it's coming (if it's a coolant hose) from with the engine compartment lid from behind the seats off?

There is no reason why you can't run the engine with the vertical engine compartment lid removed, except for the noise and the moving serpentine belt. BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO GET TOO CLOSE TO THE BELT OR THE PULLEYS WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING.

Since there are no coolant lines running inside the cabin (except for the heater core which is just below the center of the dash), the only way I can imagine all the coolant that you describe getting into the cabin is if there is a pinhole leak in the hose that runds vertically just to the passenger's side of the water pump or a leak in the water pump somehow splashing up and over the lip of the vertical lid.

That might explain the coolant under the passenger's side carpet, but not under the driver's side.

Have you gotten a foggy windshield lately? If so, then you could suspect the heater core leaking because that would drip onto the carpet near the accelerator pedal.

Curious to know what you actually find.

Regards, Maurice.

[zappbranigan]

No. No fogginess since I bought the car this past spring.

I did another posting here concerning the carpet behind the driver's seat. There is what appears to be melted carpet leading from the floor back up to the engine compartment lid. I described the green liquid under the carpet there too, and last night someone suggested it might be hydraulic fluid from the power steering lines.

I do have earmarks of a leak from the coolant tank too. I'll check the power steering lines today as well as the coolant lines. Based on the number of things I've had to do get this car back on its feet...I'm guessing I've probably got both problems causing the pooled liquid under the seats.

I can only imagine what kind of price tag I'd be looking at a dealership for these issues. My wallet and I thank everyone for helping me trouble shoot these issues!

I'll post back with what I can find.....

Edited November 23, 2008 by zappbranigan

[1schoir]

No. No fogginess since I bought the car this past spring.

I did another posting here concerning the carpet behind the driver's seat. There is what appears to be melted carpet leading from the floor back up to the engine compartment lid. I described the green liquid under the carpet there too, and last night someone suggested it might be hydraulic fluid from the power steering lines.

I do have earmarks of a leak from the coolant tank too. I'll check the power steering lines today as well as the coolant lines. Based on the number of things I've had to do get this car back on its feet...I'm guessing I've probably got both problems causing the pooled liquid under the seats.

I can only imagine what kind of price tag I'd be looking at a dealership for these issues. My wallet and I thank everyone for helping me trouble shoot these issues!

I'll post back with what I can find.....

Zapp:

I don't know if anyone else has given you this warning or not, but you have got to be extremely vigilant to make sure that the central alarm control unit under the driver's seat does not get wet.

If it gets wet and fries, you are looking at a very expensive repair.

Regards, Maurice.

[zappbranigan]

Yeah. I read where a guy found standing water under his seats and the central alarm unit was soaked. I did find some liquid down in that little well area around the unit. I think it might be toast too, because I got a series of beeps from time to time when driving but couldn't figure out why it was going off. I need a new key so never bothered to worry about setting the alarm.

I guess I should mention that when I bought this car last spring, I got it for around 6K, knowing it had 95000 miles and "issues". The engine worked and sounded okay, so all these little repairs are not getting me down. It's just that every time I attempt to tackle one problem, I discover two others.

I did discover a plug covering the driver's side drain spout under the top and to side of the engine (Beelzy called that one). It had an actual 'stopper' of some sort like it was meant to be covered. Didn't have one on the passenger side. And even though it might explain the liquid, it doesn't explain why the liquid was green.

No obvious signs of a melted or damaged hose behind the engine compartment lid either. I fired up the car and let it run for 30 minutes. Couldn't find any sing of any leak anywhere.

My only other theory might be that these issues were fixed by the previous owner but the liquid under the seat was never discovered or at least fixed.

Edited November 24, 2008 by zappbranigan

[Sputter]

You mentioned the power steering pump was dry too? Does this car have a salvage title?

From what you're saying this car is in pretty rough shape. It sounds like a project.

[Opposite Lock]

I had coolant under the driver's seat (RHD) last week but didn't bother to check the passenger's seat as the engine was overheating and I took it straight to Porsche.

There was coolant coming from the cap, spraying onto the underside of the trunk lid, but the expansion tank was the cause of the liquid under the seat. Porsche replaced the tank and the cap only. I've just checked the invoice and no other related work was done.

Hope this helps.

Edit: Forgot to mention there was no sign of leaking under the car.

Edited November 24, 2008 by Opposite Lock