Is there a coolant line there?

[Rogue10186]

Ok, for the past week or two my '93 3.2l SHO has been leaking coolant down onto the front cat, where it burns itself off. From what I can tell it's a somewhat slow leak, because the "low coolant" light has only come on twice in the past 400-500 miles.

I've read alot recently about heater cores going bad, but this is very low on my list of suspects because I dont have any of the symptoms associated with the heater core dying, (coolant in the passenger compartment, mist comming out of the vent, etc..). I was wondering, is there a coolant line anywhere between the passenger side of the fire-wall, and the engine compartment that could leak coolant onto the from cat? If not then what else could it be?

 

[Rob94]

It could be the lower radiator house at the water pump, or the water pump itself.

 

[Rogue10186]

That was one of my thoughts, but wouldnt the leak be pretty major if it was that? Also, the coolant leaks onto the back part of the fron cat, almost to where it's leaking onto the part of the exhaust pipe that's after the cat.

If it does happen to be the lower radiator hose, how hard/long would that be to replace?

Thanks

 

[HopefulSHO]

Lower hose would be pretty easy I think. Maybe an hour job if you include cooling the engine down.
Waterpump leaks can be pretty slow though, too.

 

[Rogue10186]

Waterpump leaks can be pretty slow though, too.

True, but I just had my water pump replaced like three and a half months ago, I didn't have the radiator hoses changed.

 

[SHOoff89]

Just my opinion, but I change the lower hose every 60k just so I don't have any problems. But then again, I drive my car over 100 miles a day so I want to make sure I do not get stranded.

 

[HopefulSHO]

I had a brand-new Napa waterpump fail after 7k (2months approx) of service. Best advice is to get under there and look.

 

[Rogue10186]

...Best advice is to get under there and look.

Did that earlier today, it was like a furnace under there with the engine on I could hardly breath when the fan would come on and send jet hot air right into my face! I found that it wasn't coolant that was leaking onto the cat, it's small drops of oil from my oil pan gasket, the oil looked like it had some water from condensation and the wet roads miked into it (I'm guessing that's why it smelled like torched coolant at first). When I got right up close to the cat I could smell and see some smoke from the oil, Also got a lil on my fingers to make sure that's what it was.
I'm gonna fix that this weekend when I get some free time on Sunday.

I also watched the water pump and lower radiator hose for almost 10 mins to make sure that they weren't the culprit. I will put that hose on the list b/c that looks like a real easy job to do, (plenty of room for using tools for once :****: ).

Thanks for the help!