Green fluid on the ground...Solved.

Hey guys, you don't remember but my car needs a new water pump. My dad noticed some fluid on the ground after it ran the last time, and it was green and about where the water pump is in relation to the ground. I have orange coolant in there right now, but since I didn't do a flush it could very well be remaining coolant.

Question is, would a faulty water pump leak coolant, or is there something else that could go wrong? Again, it's under where the water pump sits. It's being replaced after Thanksgiving and will be towed(AAA) up to the mechanic's house instead of driven.

Sounds impossible that the green coolant could be yours if you switched the DexCool. Watch for more green coolant to see if it's a consistent leak.

Yes, a water pump can leak before it fails, but the coolant should match what's in your radiator.

I agree with Aaron. Water pumps usually leak long before the bearing goes out, and I've had two of 'em leak in two years. !$@#!

The color however is simply impossible unless you had a big puddle of green on the top of the engine or timing case. Anything that leaks would have to be the same color that you have in the radiator...

Is it not possible that another vehicle with green coolant was parked there prior to yours?

Nope, it's definitely my car, and remember I only added coolant, not drained, flushed, and filled. I don't know of anything else that's green that could leak out. My RainX wiper fluid is orange, I think, and so is the DexCool. Who knows, all I know is it was the water pump bearing making the bad S/C coupler noise I was always experiencing, not the S/C coupler. Although the S/C seal did bust and had to be replaced, but that's another story. The water pump will definitely be replaced.

IBx1 wrote:

Nope, it's definitely my car, and remember I only added coolant, not drained, flushed, and filled. I don't know of anything else that's green that could leak out. My RainX wiper fluid is orange, I think, and so is the DexCool. Who knows, all I know is it was the water pump bearing making the bad S/C coupler noise I was always experiencing, not the S/C coupler. Although the S/C seal did bust and had to be replaced, but that's another story. The water pump will definitely be replaced.

Are we talking a bright green liquid or one with a slight green tint to it. Maybe take a picture of the spot if it happens again. The only other things in that area that could leak is the power steering pump or the AC compressor (has a few ounces of oil in it) but thats pretty much it since you've ruled out the washer reservoir.

Quote :

all I know is it was the water pump bearing making the bad S/C coupler noise I was always experiencing, not the S/C coupler. Although the S/C seal did bust and had to be replaced, but that's another story. The water pump will definitely be replaced.

How do you know for a fact that the water pump was making the noise? Are you sure the washer fluid isn't green? How long ago did you add the DexCool? What color is the coolant in you radiator now?

IBx1 wrote:

Hey guys, you don't remember but my car needs a new water pump. My dad noticed some fluid on the ground after it ran the last time, and it was green and about where the water pump is in relation to the ground. I have orange coolant in there right now, but since I didn't do a flush it could very well be remaining coolant.

Question is, would a faulty water pump leak coolant, or is there something else that could go wrong? Again, it's under where the water pump sits. It's being replaced after Thanksgiving and will be towed(AAA) up to the mechanic's house instead of driven.

The water pump is not tough to see but a little involved (but not tough) to work on due to the transverse mounting of the engine, It is easy to imagine that in a longitudinal mount, it and the other engine accessories are pretty easy to get to.

That said, you can verify the leaking of the water pump by looking at where it bolts onto the engine. You ought to be able to find coolant residue around the mounting flange.

As for the green puddle, if you are running straight dexcool I have *no* idea how you got a green puddle. Dex is orange and does not turn just because it got spilled on the pavement. . If the puddle was noticed ina parking lot or some such away from home, odds are it was someone else' problem.

Also, if your coolant is leaking, the coolant level will be low and may have depleted the reserve in the plastic reservoir. . While the car is cold, take off the radiator cap and see what's in. If you still have coolant up to the filler neck - look at the color of the coolant in the radiator. If not, and at the same time the overflow container is empty, odds are you have a leak.

Oh by the way about the ater pump - the water pump has a 'weep hole' to let the coolant that sneaks past the bearing out. If your water pump is leaking coolant thru the weep hole, failure is coming soon but not necessarily imminent.

Albertj

Take your radiator cap off (engine cool of course). Is it full? What color is it inside the radiator? Shine a light in there... any green tint at all?

Thing is, I'm at college and my car's at home. Dad told me about the fluid, so I'm unable to check all of these things, and my dad is very busy so he wouldn't be able to check all of those things either.

It is most likely what Albert said about the weep hole, as this water pump definitely seems like it's about to go.

I can tell this was making most of the sound because the same sound was still there after I had the snout rebuilt with a new coupler, seal, oil, and bearings. The pulley wobbles and the belt has about 1/8" lateral travel at idle across the pulley.

Hmm.. Your water pump may in fact need replaced if you say you've measured the wobble at 1/8", but we cannot say it definately needs replaced based on a report of green fluid on the ground. In fact, if the fluid is green, it's definately NOT coming from your pump. But when you say you didn't actually see the fluid, we now have to verify what color it really is- it may not be green at all! Very difficult to trouble shoot car problems when you are not able to see your car.

Believe me, I've been anxious to investigate it with my own eyes. I'm so lost without my car up here...

At least you can rest assured it's not going to get any worse sitting at home. You could not say that if it were at school!

Yeah...it really sucks not having my car though.

IBx1 wrote:

Yeah...it really sucks not having my car though.

Join the club

IBx1 wrote:

Thing is, I'm at college and my car's at home. Dad told me about the fluid, so I'm unable to check all of these things, and my dad is very busy so he wouldn't be able to check all of those things either.

It is most likely what Albert said about the weep hole, as this water pump definitely seems like it's about to go.

I can tell this was making most of the sound because the same sound was still there after I had the snout rebuilt with a new coupler, seal, oil, and bearings. The pulley wobbles and the belt has about 1/8" lateral travel at idle across the pulley.

Usually - let's say 85% of the time - the failing water pump will signal it's imminent death by making a sound kind of like marbles rattling in a shaken tin can when the car is running. It's likely be pretty faint at first and may be hearable only with hood open. As the failure gets worse, the pump will get noisier and start to leak coolant from the weephole. What's happening is the impeller is coming loose from the shaft. Hint - the sound never gets any better. When it starts, g'wan and replace the water pump even if it's still othersiwe seeming to work.

By the way, while you are in there make sure it's not something silly like the pulley got oily and came loose at its mounting bolts. It's only held on by some little bitty bolts that go thru the pulley face. They usually stay on good but can't hurt to check. And when you do replace them a bit of Loctite Blue on the threads will definitely keep them from being a cause of concern wile not making it one iota more difficult to service later.

So if you gotta get one if you go new/aftermarket try to get a Gates. If you go reman try to get a Cardone. There are 2 ACDelco WPs. The cheap one looks like the Gates for $15 more money; the expensive one looks like a new one from assembly line. The reman cardones are usually OEs with some improvements. What you probaby want is the WP with the cast impeller that has vanes molded in rather than the ones with the stamped impeller that looks kinda like a part out of a bubble machine.

Oh yeah one other watch-out. If you get a reman pump, check the pump to see if it has "metal gasket only" or some such cast into it. If so, be sure it either comes with the metal gasket, or get the metal gasket from NAPA or some such if it came with the regular gasket.

Albertj

I'm looking at the Advance Auto website and they have an ASC water pump for $35, FelPro gasket for $5. The AC Delco water pumps go for closer to $150 which is kind of ridiculous, otherwise I'd go OEM.

So aside from the pump(15 years old, most likely due for a replacement soon anyway) and gasket, is there anything else I'd need to buy for the mechanic to do the job, partswise?

Just FYI, monsterpartsonline shows the OEM pump for $83, not $150. RockAuto shows a Gates for $27. I'd take the Gates in this case. Never heard of ASC.

I think I'm gonna get a new(not remanufactured) Cardone instead, it's a dollar more but the Gates says it might not include the pulley, where the Cardone even has a gasket.

Add 100,000 to Ilan's mileage and that's what my OEM water pump has on it. I've had a spare water pump sitting in the closet for years, haven't needed to use it yet.

Don't forget to add 3 years and subtract one "I" from the "Series II."

albertj wrote:

So if you go new/aftermarket try to get a Gates. If you go reman try to get a Cardone. There are 2 ACDelco WPs. The cheap one looks like the Gates for $15 more money; the expensive one looks like a new one from assembly line.
Albertj

Turns out the first new WP I got was the "cheap" Delco from China. If you go Delco, make sure you get the "good" pump from............. South America!

If they are the same P/N how can you order a "GOOD" one.?

By buying Cardone!

Don't sweat it too much until you can get home to trouble shoot it. A guy can spend a small fortune trying to fix the wrong problem. IMHO. Without knowing if the "fluid" was Coolant or something all together different its hard to say what needs to be fixed. Just my @0.02

Well, the water pump needed replacing for a while anyway, and then this leak thing happened.