Definitive Method to quickly check if coolant leak is under supercharger hose?
 

I started losing coolant big time this last week while on a 5 day road trip. Over the trip I lost about a 1.5 gallons. No other symptoms and we made it home just fine.

So I'm suspecting that it might be that hose.

But WO pulling everything apart is there a spot I can insert my bore scope into to know for sure that this is the spot.

It was a bit odd because at times the coolant never dropped and at other times it dropped a lot in a very short trip. I don't quite get that but once I find the spot that may make more sense?

I'm aware of the numerous threads out there and have been into some of them (I followed the original Twookes thread when it happened) but I'd prefer not to go through all of them to find out how to check quickly for this.

Thanks.

Please let the record show that I’m being EXCEEDINGLY good and not using this wonderful setup to make a cheap joke, even though it would have been really, really funny.

And now back to the original discussion.

Just had a look and there's nary any stains at all under the supercharger or near the thermostat housing. Front either side and from front to back. Took longer to fix the Borescope because of the old batteries in it.
So it looks like the horrid coolant hose under the supercharger repair is still a bit further into my future, oh goody ... something to look forward to ... :icon_dance-cpatch:

I'll start taking the front stuff off and use the pressure tester to see where it 's coming out of. I've already changed those hoses though ... The system holds zero pressure now so there's a hole/leak somewhere ...

Mine and many others usually leak down the back and over the tranny area. should be wet at the back of the engine.

This may not be what you want to hear Bob, but i had the exact same thing on my 06 str last year.....finally ended up being a split in the radiator, right where the dccv valve is at....the insulating foam was soaking up the coolant and then drying out as the car temp went up...it finally split enough to see....even then from the bottom i had a hard time identifying it.....i understand that is a common spot for the radiator to split....good luck to you and i hope it is something way easier...by the way, did you ever get the hood silencer situated...just curious

Still using the old one. I was going to make a new one by drooping softer, suitable material over the new one for hole alignment but I haven't bothered to do that yet.

Maybe a pattern first?

OK back to the coolant issue. :icon_mad:I get good sized puddles when I park the car. I guess some dye, a UV light and a pressure tester is going to be required.

Radiator replacement looks to be a total PITA as everything on the front of this car is ...

I love the way this car looks and drives but it really is built like a POS. Poorly engineered with cheap, flimsy parts and brutally hard to work on. Small wonder then that you see so few S-Types still on the road.

Well if it is new radiator time look at this:


What a deal and for only $99 more you get installation!:D:icon_errrr: What a shit show that would be!

If the radiator has split the question is why ...

I had this happen on my 99 K2500 suburban. I always had a bit low coolant level but then it stayed at that level. Turns out there was a leak at the top of the radiator. So when I was rehabing the AC system I put in a new radiator at the same time. A no brainer right? Well the first time I drove the truck hard it up chucked the coolant badly so I'm wondering WTF?

Turns out I was getting exhaust gas injected into the coolant but no coolant into the combustion chamber. I verified the presence of hydrocarbons in the radiator tank with an emissions sniffer. So now I run that vehicle with a zero pressure cap and just let it vent. Way cheaper than fixing it and it's been running just fine like that for 3 years.

But I can't quite do that with this car. So if the radiator split because of too much pressure it's dead car time ...

OK enough awfulizing and catastrophizing ... time to find out whats what!

Wow, I never knew those words could be verbs...

If indeed the radiator has split, that may be nothing more than age and normal system pressure. If concerned about combustion gasses getting into the cooling system, there's a simple chemical test you can do. The tester looks like a fancy turkey baster and uses a special test fluid that changes color in the presence of combustion gasses. Same basic thing as holding an emissions sniffer probe at the expansion tank neck. Just way more practical for the home mechanic, as you can do it at home versus taking the car to a repair shop.




Should your car need a new head gasket, here's a tutorial on making your own:

In a nutshell.....design flaw is what i have heard on the radiator...it is a piece of work to replace, especially with the supercharger.....if you find it is the radiator, two things.....check rockauto for replacement one also and of course give a shout out....there are many who have done the swap and found a few shortcuts....i think the uv dye will serve you well

Been through the chemical tests for exhaust gasses. They don't always work but the sniffer does.

Design flaw ... This car's nickname at this point. Oh some of it is for all cars now. But if you're going to make it things out of plastic make it good plastic. Those GD hid headlamps come to mind, Valeo I think. Any coolant system part as well.

I have an 84 Maserati Biturbo with a blow molded plastic reservoir and and an aluminum radiator with the same style crimp on plastic end pieces. 70K miles and still just fine.

I've already had most of the front out of the car because the oil cooler and transmission cooler lines failed WAY too soon.

The only thing i would do different on my radiator job is remove the bumper cover....found out that was easy when replacing the hid bulbs....and you are right in calling them gd hid....a guy could make a good living replacing bulbs in an s type....the rear red side markers are fun too.....anyway keep us posted on the leak search....you probably know this, but take off that plastic cover directly beneath the radiator as well as the main belly pan....good luck

Yes ... I've had them all off far too many times already. Easy isn't the word I'd use on the bumper cover if you're doing it right. I have a feeling that like the belly pan most mechanics just sort of slop it back on with the wrong screws and plastic fasteners.

But bumper cover to replace the radiator?

And of course I bought a Quick Jack back in December to help with exactly this sort of work because I loathe getting this car up on jack stands. Worst car I've ever had for that. The factory lift points are bull shit. The rears don't work on my car.

But ... It's currently occupied with another car at the moment, a longer term restoration.

The reason i say bumper cover is because the intercooler pump and dccv is more easily accessible and they have to be removed or at least unbolted.....i also think the install would be easier... that's just my thoughts after doing it once by the book....it is sometimes hard for me to get up and down off of a creeper or just on the concrete.....coming through the space created by the cover being off would be a lot easier

Here's the creeper you need, from Human Hoist:



No surprise, but I couldn't find any mention of price at their website, just an application for financing :icon_cry:

Human Hoist

Agreed, other than the use of naughty language. I had never heard that word before and had to look it up. ;)

FWIW, I typically lift the front end with a low-profile floor jack under the crossmember that passes beneath the engine. Is this an approved lifting point? Probably not, but I've had no issues. Once the car is in the air, I set jackstands behind the front wheels, on the box section that kinds of looks like frame rail stubs. These are approved lift points, maybe 8 or 10 inches inboard of the rocker panel pinch weld. If I need the room, I'll move the floor jack out of the way, but otherwise I'll just leave it as a backup. Since 99% of my work is under the front, this has worked out very well.

For the rare times I've needed access under the back, I use car ramps. The factory lift points in the back stink. There's no room to lift using a floor jack, and then position jackstands. I have considered this special type of jack (Powerbuilt #620516) for the back. The jack has a U-shaped pad to fit around a jackstand. I like the idea, but haven't pulled the trigger yet:


https://www.powerbuilt.com/products/...1M26YDwEUhQ.97

Come on don't be too critical of this cars radiator. Everything in modern radiator design has been plastic for some time now so there is only an infinite number of hot-cold-cold-hot cycles any plastic and any plastic radiator tank will take on any brand. No such problem with my Triumph Stag radiators' copper construction, it will definitely out last me!
The RHS radiator tank on my S TYPE R lasted around 50,000 miles before the plastic cracked. Fortunately it was towards the top of the tank on the RHS and very obvious to see.
Was not too bad a job I thought to replace. BUT I ended up loosing quite a bit of transmission fluid so be well aware of this when you unbolt the transmission lines. You may have to go through fluid level check procedure afterwards as you would probably know.
The transmission plastic sump is no different either..
While we are on this topic has anyone wrapped a heat type sleeve around the culprit hose under the supercharger? Or fabricated one in silicone?
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...3ee510b127.jpg
CopperRadiator

I was looking at something else like this a couple of years ago but the company went out of business.
Looks neat but I think you'd need at least two of them, one for each side and then there's the front/back issue.
Putting jacks under an uneven car is not my idea of safety or fun ...

I need this high enough to get under the car and that's just barely achievable on this car with two floor jacks and a set of jack stands.

It's why I got this but can't use it right now ... :icon_mad:

https://www.costco.com/QuickJack-5%2...100460313.html

It's always $100 off and the shipping is barely adequate to get it there in one piece.
Mine arrived and was obviously screwed with so they sent me one new lift cylinder.
A bit complicated to get bled, they really should ship it pre-bled.

But once you do that it does work well for what it is. A bit heavy to call portable, the smaller one probably is but that wasn't big enough for my cars.

However, this is not a one piece lift. It's two lifts on one hydraulic system lifting each side of your car separately. So your need to have your wits about you.
I also have a 4 post drive on lift also occupied! :icon_mad:

All car lifts are potential killers.

Every coolant tank, I'm on #3, has weeped coolant around the edge. This one is doing it much more now though so once my pressure tester and UV light arrive perhaps I'll find out that it is once again the coolant tank.

But I wouldn't think it would drop below the leak point all that much? It didn't on my Truck.

This time I won't toss out the old tank. Perhaps a new aluminum one can be fashioned from it? It is pretty complex inside.

Are there any plastic coolant reservoirs now that don't leak right out of the box? These are just utter pieces of crap. I so sick of this problem. I had it the day I picked up the car and the dealer could never fix it under the warranty.

My pressure tester arrived and I think I've found the issue. Besides my upper radiator hose being slipped back almost 1/4" from it's home spot (I wonder about that) directly below is the attachment to the DCCV and that hose which is part of the octopus assembly that's just so lovely to install is weeping under the hose which is being held on by a screw clamp. I suspect because it's GD impossible to get one of those special tools in there for the spring style clamp. At any rate I already have an entire new hose assembly because of the spring retaining clip that disappeared into the black hole that is this engine compartment the last time I serviced this junk 2 or 3 years ago when I replaced almost ever other hose. It's safety wired now! :icon_nic:

Well that's first leak found ... there could be more. This cat is not house broken. I've also got an oil leak A G A I N!

So I'll go after this hose assembly first and see if that fixes it. The system is not holding pressure but it's a slow leak.