Coolant leak - I think!

[Carl Hammond]

Hi everyone, hope you are all well.

Once again all the excitement of last weekend has taken its toll on poor old Lily!

I didn't notice any problems when I tucked her away on Sunday, but when I went to check her over on Tuesday, I discovered a rather large puddle towards the front of the car just underneath the pass wheel! I had a nosey underneath to see if I could spot where the leak was coming from, but whatever it was had clearly stopped by then.

I took some photos to see if there was any obvious problem areas and the results are as follows:




As you can see, there appears to be one suspect area where this leak may have started, but would it really have spilt this much from that? I am assuming it is a coolant pipe, but even then I cannot be certain! I went to check earlier to see if the problem had gotten any worse, fortunately no and the initial patch had completely dried up, giving me another reason to be believe it was a coolant leak.

Perhaps one of you kind lovely people can help me diagnose the problem and a possible solution please - quick fix or otherwise! :wink:

I would be ever so grateful for any advice with this.

Thanks in advance

Best regards

Carl

[Rich H]

Hi Carl

It's definately coolant and not oil? It could be a leaky damper...

Coolant - there is a large aluminium coolant pipe running to the bottom right of the radiator.

Check for leaks at the joints in the pipe and also where the pipe joins the radiator.

The aluminium can corrode around the rubber hoses which leads to pin holes and leaks.

You may need to run the engine until hot to pressurise the system before the leak shows up.

[Dan6457]

It must be coolant if its dried up. Brake fluid would stay on the floor for ages.

I put money on it being one of the rubber joining hoses that link the ally pipes together. Its a fairly easy job to do with the front wheel off.

[Carl Hammond]

Hi Rich/Dan

I will have a look under the car tomorrow and see if I can spot any suspect areas, like you said
Rich, may have to run her up to temp first, doesn't take long with my car at the moment! lol

I'm guessing that I haven't lost too much water, have I? Although it looks extreme, these car's I believe hold a heck of a lot more than that!

Can anyone point me in the right direction of where I should be looking. Any diagrams at all? Sorry, I feel ashamed to ask that question, truth is my knowledge of these car's is shocking! :oops:

Thanks for the info guys, appreciated as always.

Will report my findings tomorrow.

Cheers

Best regards

Carl

[jerzybondov]

Hi Carl,

Good luck finding the source of the problem. Like you I feel like a total klutz with these idiotic stainless machines - had to ask Nick T where the fuses were when I broke down on the M25 last Friday!

Still, I'm getting there - I've half dismantled my handbrake this evening

[Rich H]

Carl Hammond Wrote:Hi Rich/Dan

I will have a look under the car tomorrow and see if I can spot any suspect areas, like you said
Rich, may have to run her up to temp first, doesn't take long with my car at the moment! lol

I'm guessing that I haven't lost too much water, have I? Although it looks extreme, these car's I believe hold a heck of a lot more than that!

Can anyone point me in the right direction of where I should be looking. Any diagrams at all? Sorry, I feel ashamed to ask that question, truth is my knowledge of these car's is shocking! :oops:

Take off the wheel and it's fairly obvious, theres an big aluminium tube running to the bottom right of the rad, you can't miss it.

It's doesn't look like you've lost much water there, but you don't know how much you've lost whilst driving. Check the coolant level before starting it up.

[Carl Hammond]

Hi Gez,

Glad I'm not the only one mate! What gets me is when I take the car down to my local garage, sometimes even the mechanics there are left scratching their heads!! That's why I now go to PJ Grady for all my DeLorean needs! :wink:

Seriously though, although it might seem a baffling prospect at first, you'll start to find your way around the car and pick up little tips and tricks as you go along. Not to mention the fact that we are fortunate enough to have a great bunch of guys here, ready to help you every step of the way, as you have already found out of course!

Would still love a crash course tech session on the ins and outs of the car one day though.

All the best

Carl

[Carl Hammond]

RichH Wrote:

Carl Hammond Wrote:Hi Rich/Dan

I will have a look under the car tomorrow and see if I can spot any suspect areas, like you said
Rich, may have to run her up to temp first, doesn't take long with my car at the moment! lol

I'm guessing that I haven't lost too much water, have I? Although it looks extreme, these car's I believe hold a heck of a lot more than that!

Can anyone point me in the right direction of where I should be looking. Any diagrams at all? Sorry, I feel ashamed to ask that question, truth is my knowledge of these car's is shocking! :oops:

Take off the wheel and it's fairly obvious, theres an big aluminium tube running to the bottom right of the rad, you can't miss it.

It's doesn't look like you've lost much water there, but you don't know how much you've lost whilst driving. Check the coolant level before starting it up.

Thanks again Rich and apologies for having to make you point out the obvious! :oops:

At least I know what I am doing now though!

Will let you know how I get on in due course...

Best regards

Carl

[Rich H]

Not at all matey, that's what I'm here for

The great thing about the DeLorean is it's 'proper' car with wires and bits of metal, not some computer controlled, optic fibre, fly by wire, mystery black box powered thing.

Front to back I've taken almost everything apart on my car and even helped remove and refit an automatic transmission (and mine's a manual!) The more you 'have a go' the less daunting it gets. Before you dive in, a quick post or PM and I or another member who's actually done it can tell you what to look out for along the way.

[Guinney1971]

I'd echo RichH's diagnosis here, Flopsy did it to me (but then again what *hasnt* gone wrong
on that car in the 7 years I've owned it.....).

One tip - I had one of these rubber hoses that connects all the ally pipes blow on me on the
motorway one day - I lost my entire cooling system in about .4 of a second! (well, it
seemed that quick anyway! lol) I bought some of that 'chav' silicon blue hose, and replaced
as many of the short connecting rubber pipes with it as possible and also new hose clips.

Touch wood, it's been ok since - and that was 3 years ago. I've always been paranoid about
Flopsy's cooling system, having had the head gaskets done twice (resulted in 2 new cylinder
heads from Darren Bowker), and had numerous otterstat failures. I've now got a switch on my
centre console that lets me turn the fans on manually just in case now.

Has your car got a self bleed kit fitted? Air in the cooling system can cause problems too......

[Chris Williams]

Just as another thought, were you running your A/C or had it recharged?? I know my D has water falling off the front when parked in the garage after a long run with the A/C on, Normally around the Front N/S wheel mind you, but it may be worth a look?

Chris

[JamesRGUK]

Chris Williams Wrote:Just as another thought, were you running your A/C or had it recharged?? I know my D has water falling off the front when parked in the garage after a long run with the A/C on, Normally around the Front N/S wheel mind you, but it may be worth a look?

Chris

Carl,

It's a DeLorean, things never go wrong with them, so your probably experiencing somthing completly normal :-)

on a more serious note...

This area is where the condensation from the A/C is dumped on the floor,
it's completley normal, I often get a puddle under my car when I've parked it up having been
running the A/C.

You should be able to tell if it's coolant...

a) Because if it's coolant the fluid level in the header tank will start to drop (use a wooden dip
stick in the header tank and mark the level over a couple of days)

b) Because like a good boy you'll be running with a good mix of anti-freeze in your coolant
system so it will smell/taste interesting :-) (tasting anti-freeze is not advised)

James

[Rich H]

Hell I'm getting you mixed up with Gez who has a leak into his footwell atm.

Yes of course it could just be your air-con draining down - is your air con working Carl?

[Carl Hammond]

Hi Guy's, thanks for all the replies/help/advice all appreciated.

I never did get round to looking at this last weekend (stupid coursework!) :roll:

I'm afraid I'm going to ask a few stupid questions again... so bare with me! :oops:

Right, process of elimination time! Is it safe to say, I can rule out any leaks relating to; tranny oil, engine oil, brake fluid, as there would still be evidence of this on the garage floor right?

That leaves me with just a few possibilities...

Coolant leak - Prime suspect, as it is around the general area of the hoses and the patch has completely dried up within a few day's. Would it be normal for it to stop dripping out too?

A/C - Interesting, because the symptoms people have described are very similar. BUT, I have never used the A/C since I've had the car (2 years) and as far as I know neither have any of the previous owners? I did have the heaters/dials on most of the time over that weekend though. Is there any chance there may have been traces remaining in the system that have only just found there way out because I'm using the controls for the first time in ages?

Trapped rain water - A bit far fetched, but may as well rule out all of the possibilities! Could I have collected some rain water over time? I mean it absolutely p****d it down that weekend, is there a chance it has built up somewhere (foot well?) and found its way out when the car settled?!?!

Lot's more questions than answers I'm afraid, but will hopefully help to diagnose.

Thanks

Best regards

Carl

[NickT]

I am in Norwich next week so I can have a look for you if you like.

It might be worthwhile giving it a pressure test to see if it leaks.

Nick.