Hey guys,
I've had a coolant leak in my son's 2003 Santa Fe for months. The reservoir goes from the full line down to below the low line in around a month. There was never any evidence of it being in the oil and it wasn't a fast enough leak to make it to the ground and pool up. A couple of months ago, I took it in and my mechanic did a pressure test and couldn't find anything. He said it held pressure over night. He replaced one hose clamp where there were a few drops of coolant, but other than that he couldn't find anything. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I took it back in because it was still losing coolant regularly. This time he drove it around and got it good and hot before putting it on the lift, since a pressure test hadn't shown anything previously. This time he could see some coolant leaking from the water pump. Fortunately for me, this was still under warranty because he'd had to replace it this past summer when the original water pump went belly up. I guess we just got a bad pump since it had pretty much had a coolant leak since then--we just didn't realize it immediately. It looks like that finally solved the leak.
So my question is this: Why would this leak not show up under a pressure test? Why would it only start leaking when hot? I mean, it sort of makes sense, but I just like to understand exactly what's going on with my vehicles so I'll know what my mechanic is talking about.
Thanks in advance!
I've had a coolant leak in my son's 2003 Santa Fe for months. The reservoir goes from the full line down to below the low line in around a month. There was never any evidence of it being in the oil and it wasn't a fast enough leak to make it to the ground and pool up. A couple of months ago, I took it in and my mechanic did a pressure test and couldn't find anything. He said it held pressure over night. He replaced one hose clamp where there were a few drops of coolant, but other than that he couldn't find anything. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I took it back in because it was still losing coolant regularly. This time he drove it around and got it good and hot before putting it on the lift, since a pressure test hadn't shown anything previously. This time he could see some coolant leaking from the water pump. Fortunately for me, this was still under warranty because he'd had to replace it this past summer when the original water pump went belly up. I guess we just got a bad pump since it had pretty much had a coolant leak since then--we just didn't realize it immediately. It looks like that finally solved the leak.
So my question is this: Why would this leak not show up under a pressure test? Why would it only start leaking when hot? I mean, it sort of makes sense, but I just like to understand exactly what's going on with my vehicles so I'll know what my mechanic is talking about.
Thanks in advance!