I bought a salvage Cruze from Indiana and shipped it to South Carolina, I have been building it back to normal...so far replaced fender, door, strut, hub.
I drove car for about 2 weeks on and off, then drove to work for a daily vehicle. work is about an hour drive and after work i walked out and noticed a small puddle of liquid was under car on passenger side under engine. I pulled car away from parking spot to check the liquid, was not oil, small amount of coolant was on the ground.
questioned whether it was there from my car or from a car before i parked there, became very curious but leak never showed back up.
the next week I received the "turning A/C off due to overheating" message. this happened as i was pulling in the driveway. right before i turned engine off, the Temp gauge began to climb very fast and Engine light was on. I cut off motor before it reached a dangerous temperature. The coolant reservoir was empty so i filled it up and no leaking, so i thought. I never smelled coolant inside the cab unless windows were down, then the smell would occur every now and then.
the reservoir cap is placed right in front of the opening where the cab sucks in air, the radiator caps are a little faulty, only holding up to 20psi, thinking thats where everyone is getting the smell from the vents but just a theory.
after hours of running the car and turning fan all the way up and down, A/C on and off, heat on and off, it was very sporadic and the leak was hard to find and troubleshoot.
also when A/C was on, the fan in front of the motor would immediately turn on, and fluxuate high speed and low.
it seemed as if the coolant leaked faster when the A/C was on full blast but still never repetetive enough to prove that was the issue.
drove car and checked coolant level every time i began to drive, and when i got done, also taking into consideration the level would fluxuate a little bit, whether motor was hot or cold. this leak is very confusing, it seemed like the water pump but never often enough to prove 100% that was the case.
i added half a bottle of Bar's Leaks Copper Intake and radiator block seal hoping this might help the slight leak. this stuff has small "chips" of copper in it. again though, the leak was so sporadic, it wasnt enough evidence that it worked a little or any at all. but it did prove the reservoir cap does leak a very small amount because the copper "chips" were able to be seen on the threading of the cap days later.
the next week the leak continued to show, one day i parked with the nose of the car downhill and noticed an unusually larger leak over just a few hours, i added the coolant (kept spare bottle in trunk) and drove home for more inspections. and nothing was found!
the week after again parked in that downhill mode and boom! the leak was back, i had enough in the reservoir to make it home and away i went.
with an almost empty reservoir i put the other half of the Bar's Leaks Copper in it and refilled coolant again, this time i parked the car in a downhill mode and followed instructions as before on back of Bar's Leaks bottle, i blasted the heater and had the fan on full blast! boom! inspecting under the hood, and from the water pump came visible tiny drops "spraying" around, about 1 tiny drop every 2-3 seconds. further inspection shown a leak where the coolant enters the water pump toward the back side of the motor where the hose connects to the pump. then after minutes went by, coolant collected all over the pump. i have ordered a water pump and gasket from advance auto parts a few days prior to this find and glad i did, im guessing in a few days the coolant level will be back down and i will take off the hose to inspect and see if the hose is faulty or if the water pump is.
I hope this thread helps, this coolant leak is a pain to find but im thinking (maybe with the car facing downhill at enough incline????????????) the pressure is great enough when running to really show the leak, that would make sense on why it is so sporadic and confusing. again this is just a theory, im probably wrong but am gaining a good enough idea to really troubleshoot and pinpoint the problem.
I drove car for about 2 weeks on and off, then drove to work for a daily vehicle. work is about an hour drive and after work i walked out and noticed a small puddle of liquid was under car on passenger side under engine. I pulled car away from parking spot to check the liquid, was not oil, small amount of coolant was on the ground.
questioned whether it was there from my car or from a car before i parked there, became very curious but leak never showed back up.
the next week I received the "turning A/C off due to overheating" message. this happened as i was pulling in the driveway. right before i turned engine off, the Temp gauge began to climb very fast and Engine light was on. I cut off motor before it reached a dangerous temperature. The coolant reservoir was empty so i filled it up and no leaking, so i thought. I never smelled coolant inside the cab unless windows were down, then the smell would occur every now and then.
the reservoir cap is placed right in front of the opening where the cab sucks in air, the radiator caps are a little faulty, only holding up to 20psi, thinking thats where everyone is getting the smell from the vents but just a theory.
after hours of running the car and turning fan all the way up and down, A/C on and off, heat on and off, it was very sporadic and the leak was hard to find and troubleshoot.
also when A/C was on, the fan in front of the motor would immediately turn on, and fluxuate high speed and low.
it seemed as if the coolant leaked faster when the A/C was on full blast but still never repetetive enough to prove that was the issue.
drove car and checked coolant level every time i began to drive, and when i got done, also taking into consideration the level would fluxuate a little bit, whether motor was hot or cold. this leak is very confusing, it seemed like the water pump but never often enough to prove 100% that was the case.
i added half a bottle of Bar's Leaks Copper Intake and radiator block seal hoping this might help the slight leak. this stuff has small "chips" of copper in it. again though, the leak was so sporadic, it wasnt enough evidence that it worked a little or any at all. but it did prove the reservoir cap does leak a very small amount because the copper "chips" were able to be seen on the threading of the cap days later.
the next week the leak continued to show, one day i parked with the nose of the car downhill and noticed an unusually larger leak over just a few hours, i added the coolant (kept spare bottle in trunk) and drove home for more inspections. and nothing was found!
the week after again parked in that downhill mode and boom! the leak was back, i had enough in the reservoir to make it home and away i went.
with an almost empty reservoir i put the other half of the Bar's Leaks Copper in it and refilled coolant again, this time i parked the car in a downhill mode and followed instructions as before on back of Bar's Leaks bottle, i blasted the heater and had the fan on full blast! boom! inspecting under the hood, and from the water pump came visible tiny drops "spraying" around, about 1 tiny drop every 2-3 seconds. further inspection shown a leak where the coolant enters the water pump toward the back side of the motor where the hose connects to the pump. then after minutes went by, coolant collected all over the pump. i have ordered a water pump and gasket from advance auto parts a few days prior to this find and glad i did, im guessing in a few days the coolant level will be back down and i will take off the hose to inspect and see if the hose is faulty or if the water pump is.
I hope this thread helps, this coolant leak is a pain to find but im thinking (maybe with the car facing downhill at enough incline????????????) the pressure is great enough when running to really show the leak, that would make sense on why it is so sporadic and confusing. again this is just a theory, im probably wrong but am gaining a good enough idea to really troubleshoot and pinpoint the problem.