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My car is doing it again --- that thing where I start to reconsider whether this whole ``motor transportation'' thing is actually a good idea. In particular it's losing coolant. I noticed this when I figured I should check on just how much coolant it had and found there wasn't any in the reservoir. I refilled it, and on getting back home there was just a tiny bit left in the reservoir. I repeated this routine a few times and still haven't got any.
What I didn't have was any specific evidence of where it's been going. My suspicion was that since the reservoir lid was loose perhaps warmed coolant was vaporizing before I could do anything about it. I didn't understand the Jiffy Lube folks' complaint at first and had replaced my radiator cap which didn't do anything useful; but the large, roughly square plastic cover to the reservoir, the thing into which you pour more coolant, rattles around with one side coming off none too hard. And so I stopped in at an AutoZone to look for a replacement. This required some explanation that I was not looking for the radiator cap but rather the cover for the reservoir, which the clerk there was able to understand once she had pulled up the picture of a radiator cap and I explained no, that's not what I needed. I'm glad I'm not apparently overlooking the obviously correct term since she had to look up what it was. And it turns out they can't get it in stock. Maybe a dealer would. But on coming out of the AutoZone I found a puddle of greenish liquid dripping underneath my car, from around the radiator fan. Ah! Almost certainly there is a leak there.
Unfortunately this meant some of this evening was spent in convincing my father that there (a) was a problem, that I (b) correctly identified as coolant leaking out, even though by the time we were home there wasn't any current leak. I'm taking the car up to the place where I got it fixed a few weeks ago and ...w ell, I hope this isn't going to force me to use more of my personal days since I've got much better plans for them than sitting in the auto shop while they try to make me feel at home by insisting I pick something to watch on the TV.
Trivia: In February 1883 Ferdinand de Lessep's canal digging excavated 111,082 cubic meters of soil in Panama. Source: The Impossible Dream: The Building of the Panama Canal, Ian Cameron.
Currently Reading: 1939: The Lost World Of The Fair, David Gelernter.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-10 11:11 am (UTC)I don't know what kind of vehicle you have. On some, the coolant pump is attached or very near the radiator fan. Depending on the model of the vehicle, this could be as much as a couple hundred bucks for the part plus replacement coolant plus labor. It's usually relatively easy to replace.
It could also be your radiator. This would be more expensive-possible as much as $400 or so (if it's like it was for the Stealth Lemon in which parts always cost more than any other vehicle put out by the same company), but again could be as little as $150.
If it turns out to be the radiator, I would advise you to consider having them replace the coolant pump at the same time regardless of the shape it's in as they usually have to remove it anyway to replace the radiator and its unusual from my past observations of various family vehicles, for the pump to outlast the radiator by much if at all.
Most important is to get whatever this is fixed ASAP otherwise, you risk overheating your engine and then you won't have to worry about your car anymore as you'll find yourself walking.
Good luck!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-10 11:20 pm (UTC)Oh, well, if I were quicker on the draw I'd have got this advice and been able to pass it on to the repair shop. I don't believe they're thinking of anything with the coolant pump, but I won't have the car back before tomorrow anyway (the repair time estimate, including some stuff besides the coolant, came in at five hours, and that without counting the time to get parts in).
The bizarre thing about all this has been that my car hasn't been overheating, or showing any symptoms of overheating. The engine temperature has stayed low and stable; the heat going into the cabin has been nice and toasty and hasn't had any weird fluctuations or delays in starting up or variability with engine speed. Everything about it seems to be working fine except that the coolant leaks out. Well, it's in their hands now, but the principle is there.