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Subject:Re: Coolant coming out...
From:Amanda Powell
Date:Fri, 4 Aug 2000 16:40:11 GMT

Jay,
I too was having this problem & was freaking out because I had just spent
$2100.00 (give or take a few pennies!) to get my beloved up and running
after she had sat for three years...I did NOT, much to my suprise, need a
head-job (which is why I parked her in the first place-ended up being
{despite TWO previous mechanic's estimates!} just a $165.00 coolant resivoir
leak!)  My favorite mechanic, Mike from the List-referred Motorkars of
Columbus (Ohio) said that that kind of coolant leak occurs because my engine
(1.9l '85 GL) is designed to "weep" coolant when it is hot...he said it
lubricates the...um...manifold (does that sound right? I had soooo much
information to remember that day!)  Has anyone else ever heard of this?

Amanda
(Grandpa Lew's)'85 GL

----Original Message Follows----

Date:    Fri, 4 Aug 2000 08:28:04 -0400
From:    Jay L Snyder <Jay.L.Snyder@usa.dupont.com>
Subject: Re: Coolant coming out...

My '85 also only leaks after being shut off for quite awhile.  Sometimes
overnight, sometimes the next evening.  I think it is old, hard gaskets
that seal when hot, but leak when the metal around them cools and
contracts.  I also have never seen any leakage while running and do not
smell hot antifreeze while running.  The fact that it pushes it out so much
later tells me the system is holding pressure pretty well.  It is just a
matter of time until the motor gets yanked for this and other reasons.  I
do not see the levels changing or any bubbling in my overflow tank that you
say you have.  Do the bubbles stop when the engine is shut off or do they
continue for awhile? A compression leak would stop fairly soon after
shutdown?

                                                              Jay

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