Originally thought this was leaking from the hoses and as i went to change them i realised it was coming from the water pump area... I just want to get a. better opinion before i take everything apart as a beginner at fixin cars.



As you can see its weeping down the lower rad hose slowly, I don't have to top up coolant often but its still happening. Lots more coolant comes out when i wiggle the WP and lower hose.

Hope it's nothin too bad, its a late 1996 xj btw

Thanks.

edit; car does have a problem of overheating after im idle for 20+ mins, could this be the culprit?

 

i had a leak, looked something like that, thought it was the pump, replaced pump, still leaked! then found a itty bitty tear in one of the heater hoses at the fitting way up top in front at the head. Hidden from view very well, as was the trail of coolant until it spilled over the water pump. Ugh. easy hose fix with new hoses, plus I got a new water pump out of it, yippie! hahahahaha

 

Just had a look at the heater hoses, nothing there! Damn.

Even if its not the issue, a new water pump wouldn't hurt

 

heh not alot of people have it but a pressure tester comes in handy with these types of leak i find but it looks like the water pump in my opinion. see if you can get a mirror around the area to get a better look.

 

Looks like the pump shaft seal to me.

 

You can wiggle the water pump?

 

not that i can tell, but when i mess with it coolant start leaking, same as when im ****ing with the lower rad hose it starts leaking down from the waterpump too

 

If it leaks more when you wiggle the hose my first, second, and third guess is that it's leaking between the hose and the pump. As a starter are all the clamps tight ?

 

Could be leaking from the weep hole of the water pump. Make sure clamps are tight, and if they're old might just be time to replace both hoses/clamps etc, especially if you're overheating. Definitely check that metal tube coming from the water pump that connects to one of the heater hoses. Those things love to rust out and could be causing issues, especially spraying coolant. If this image is from under the car looking up it's either one of the 2.

 

yup, loose clamp can do it, or a tiny pinhole or tear in hose, often next to the clamp, hidden from clear view until you remove the clamp. That happened on my lower hose, AND later found that on heater hose. unless you used a mirror and bright light, youd not see the drip at the heater hose in my case. but from under the truck, it looked like is was definatly the water pump, but it was not. heck, pull the hoses and inspect the clamped ends to be sure of no tears or pin holes.

if hoses is old, replace them. I am no fan of water cooled cars when it comes to old hoses. air cooled seems so much easier.

 

No I'm asking you to take your hand and grab the mechanical fan at the 12 o'clock position and see if it wiggles front to back. I'm not sure if this needs to be said but make sure the engine is off while doing this.

 

no movement in it mate, everything seems to be pretty firm

 

Did you check to see if the hole is wet?

 

Leak was coming from the water pump, replaced and looking good

 

Indeed. I just borrowed one last week track down the leak on my 2014 KL. It's really nice to pump it up and look/feel around for the leaks without burning yourself. And trust me that 3.2l is a tight fit under the hood.with very little room to poke around.