Coolant leak

[68jimmy]

My wife's Magnum RT seems to have a small coolant leak... Last night I took the car out and when I returned I found that where the car had been sitting was a large (6-7") stain on the driveway. I waited until this morning to check the coolant level which was about 1/2 gallon low or so and once again a smallspot was under the car. Although with the plastic cover under the engine bay it's difficult to determine where the leak is coming from. But I did notice a something wet just about center and just under the front part of the motor from a small round hole in that plastic cover. That would seem to indicate that perhaps my leak is from the water-pump...As neither the upper or lower radiator hoses appear wet nor could i see any indication of a leak when looking down thru the drive belt towards the crossmember... The car has 56,000 miles on it, is the water pump a common failure on these engines? Is the plastic under-engine cover fairly easy to remove?

Thanks in advance,

donovan

[FreebirdSRT]

Check the 13 pin tranny connector plug. Most of us that find the small red pubble in our garages was from the 13 pin connector springing a small leak (very common on the earlier LX's). The dealership can fix the problem in about an hour.

[Fargo59]

ah, but he mentions the belly pan, and the coolant being 1/2 gal low. i havent seen any major failures or causes for leaks on hemi's yet, but the water pump is the most obvious spot to look.

[68jimmy]

Well this morning I went out and I could not see any indication of a leak on the driveway. I removed the belly pan and on the rear pan it was obvious that something is leaking but it's not tranny or power steering fluid. As I looked up into the engine from below I can see evidence of a liquid that has dried on the oil pan and the lower radiator hose, it is sort of white with a red tint...

I'm thinking that perhaps the water pump may be leaking from the weep hole. Where is the weep hole on the water pump? What's really weird is I added fluid yesterday morning, drove it for awhile parked it overnight, drove it twice today once on the freeway to open it up a bit ... Came home let it idle for a bit letting the fans kick on and off. Turned it off, crawled under and still no signs of anything wet... WTF!

Ideas??

TIA,
donovan

[CanuckDWfan]

I haven't seen anything about water pump failure with these cars, so with the description given I would suspect the lower rad hose clamp where it connects to the pump. The clamps are just pinch fit. I can't explain why coolant would leak for a short while and then stop leaking, but it sure sounds like that's what it's done.

...unless unbeknownst to you, your wife recently changed the thermostat to a 160/170/180 and that was a bit a spillage.

[68jimmy]

Well this morning when I looked under the car I found quite a bit of a mess on the cardboard I left under the engine. So after I jacked it up and crawled under I discovered that it was leaking from the underside of the thermostat housing... Popped the hood and checked the bolts, they were tight so I figured it was probably the seal. I followed the tip using the gallon baggie to catch the fluid which worked great. Removed the housing and when I pried up on the thermostat the seal just ripped. Probably the original and a bit fragile. Ran down to napa picked up a new thermostat with the seal got back to the car and finished it up. Ran it around town today and so far no problems, but we'll see in the morning...

donovan