Coolant Leak? Where would it be
Asked by Keyche Nov 18, 2020 at 09:43 PM about the 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix GT Coupe
Question type: General
I have a 00 Pontiac Grand Prix GT and I have
a coolant leak issue that just started to
happen last night. I’ve had gaskets changed,
my coolant elbows too because they were
plastic, I checked both areas where coolant
would go and I filled it up twice and everything
just leaked out. I don’t know what to do
exactly, this is the only car I got and I’m trying
to do what I can to keep it running
5 Answers
The good news is that it is visibly leaking out. That's good because it will be easier to find. You say it just "leaked out". Did it puddle up under the car? If so, was ir coming down from a particular area (front, rear, radiator, left rear, etc)? That is where to start. Go vertically from there and look for wet hoses, wet parts, or obvious damage. When you added coolant, did you put it into the reservoir bottle or directly into the radiator? Keep looking and you will find the source and it probably wont be an internal engine issue. Maybe a worn out water pump or leaky thermostat housing but not any problem that will require major surgery.
Only u can find the leak since we can't visually check it. Like mentioned above, trace leak back up to the source, also check for leaky freeze plugs on engine not just hoses.
The very first thing I would look at is the lower radiator hose. It's directly under the filler neck of the radiator at the bottom of the radiator. The second thing I'd check is the low coolant level sensor. It's about 3 inches below the radiator filler neck. It's a square black box looking thing that just clamps to the radiator with an electric plug on the bottom of it. You didn't say where it's leaking. Driver's side, passenger's side, middle, near the front of the vehicle, or near the firewall? Hope that helps! Jim
Sorry I’m trying to read everyone’s comments. to clarify what is going on basically I hit a bump earlier yesterday pretty hard and I think I cracked my radiator is what’s going on. Hours after that loud hit I took that’s when my car started running hot. Temperature gauge started going up out of nowhere and i checked both my coolant areas and they were low especially the reservoir area for the radiator cap. I put some in and tried driving again it ran hot again so I stopped. I put more coolant in and this time I was in a lighter area and I could see it all leaking to the ground. So what I’m thinking is my radiator is cracked. Also after the first time I put coolant in my heat wouldnt even get hot in my car it was blowing really cold. Then the leak I honestly couldn’t tell what side it was coming from it was more so the middle of the car it seemed. Or more so to the right from what I could recall. My low coolant sensor is also messed up as well from having a recent engine swap so some wires are kind of faulty or so
I'd still look at the lower radiator hose. It sits very low in the engine compartment and could be vulnerable to being damaged by something in the road. Hope that helps! Jim