Lucky but not lucky

[dogora]

Last night I kinda had an accident with my Aurora. She is not doing well at the moment. I was out of town, on a foggy road that I had never been before and rushing ..... Dumb me.... wanted to turn my gps on and tap "go home", so I can see the route and where the curves are.

I put my eyes back on the road; too late, it's a front yard of a house that I am goin towards with 80 km/h. I steer full left, the right front wheel hits the soil which is like a ramp up front yard of the house. The car just takes air and dives straight down into the ditch in front of the yard. While the wheels are full left, it suddenly grips and takes a bigger air, out the ditch and over to the other ditch on the other side of the road. Finally correct it and got back on the road.

This is in the morning
cross member dinged oil filter touching the pan...


Both mufflers got dinged.


So I changed the oil and filter and the new filter sits like it's suppossed to. Checked all the tranny and oil pan bolts and front ones were a bit loose. Took it for a drive, left whee sometimes clunks over speed bumps and while backing up fast. Assuming it's the tie rod. But no vibrations or pulls on highway. I'm going to pull the wheels tomorrow and check.

Also noticed in the red lights steam coming out of the drivers headlight. Couldn't figure out where the leak is yet, but I have to figure that out emergently it looks like.

[dogora]

I still can't seem to figure out this coolant leak. All the hoses are dry. It looks like, it is around the water pump since the steam comes out the drivers head light, but when it's idling in the driveway, coolant is coming down from the exhaust crossover bracket between the pans.

Upper rad hose was not pressurizing, changed the cap, now it gets stiff.

When I crawl under the car and check the water pump, it's totally dry, but the wiring harness underneath the water pump is soaked in antifreeze. Where do you guys think the leak is?

[oldsAURORAmobile]

I'm betting on the radiator. I had a crack in one of the plastic side tanks that was almost impossible to see while in the car, but was obvious upon removal. The steam is probably being blown back when driving and condensing in that area. Looking at the next to last photo, it looks like anti-freeze dripping on the crossmember.

[dogora]

Thanks oldsAURORAmobile. As you were typing, I was pulling the rad cover off to check around, and the radiator and the hoses are fine. The leak down to the exhaust crossover bracket happens on the driveway, even without driving around. If I drive around it just spreads all over the cradle and pans. And when I stop at a light, steam comes out from in between the drivers headlight and the hood. When I pop the hood, I see the steam coming out from underneath the thermostat housing but more towards the block. When I look from the bottom the wiring harness and the block heater wire, doesn't allow me to see the steam. Any more ideas or suggestions?

[oldsAURORAmobile]

Don't know how it could have happened from the accident, but that sounds a lot like the coolant crossover (thermostat housing at lower left):

[dogora]

Thank you so much. It does look like thats where the leak is. It must have been weak before the accident. I'll attack this tomorrow and see what's next...

[oldsAURORAmobile]

I'm curious as to what you'll find. Whether it's broken or just a coincidental gasket leak. Hope it goes well.

[dogora]

Sorry for the late update. The coolant leak is fixed. It was totally a coincidental leak.

1. Replaced the reservoir cap, and the pressure blew one of the crossover gaskets. (The rear lower one)

2. Replaced the 4 crossover gaskets, and examined the water pump while the whole casting was out of the car. Collect everything back together after 7 hours. Just to see that I have a slower leak developed now. The water pump o-ring.

3. Changed the o-ring, water pump, thermostat and housing gasket.

And no more coolant loss for the last couple months.

[dogora]

Here are the new gaskets


And the old ones

[dogora]

And the waterpumps


When I was doing the crossover gaskets the old propeller was shiny, no orange stains or surface rust, this is after driving with water instead of dexcool for 4 days.

And the confusing yellow dot on the water pump that indicates nothing.