Coolant smell after long drives. Now puddle of coolant on the ground where i parked

[Jables_WRX_Junki]

SO ever since i got my 2002 wrx, i have been able to smell a warm coolant smell. my temp gauge is good. little bit under 1/2. Had a pre purchase inspection on the car and did not find any leaks anywhere. But yesterday i pulled my car out of its parking spot and noticed a pool of coolant. Also seems to of spattered around under the hood. Opened the cap on my coolant tank and is 1/4 full. But when after driving it around for 10 miles today. No more puddles. Im geussing because there isnt that much coolant left. But i searched a couple forums and found some ideas of places to look for leaks and i cant find any yet. Also im living in portland right now and it has been very warm and very muggy out. not sure if that makes a difference. and ideas people?

[SD_GR]

Find it no matter what. Figure out where the puddle was in relation to components and work backwards if necessary, but find it. Hoses, radiator, caps all suspect.

[Jables_WRX_Junki]

I literally just had my timing belt and water pump replaced thursday. Also had a leak in lower radiator hose and the upper radiator hose was deterioating. So i had those two hoses replaced. Going to take it back to them monday. Wondering if they just didnt get the clamps on tight enough or mabey its a cap. The pudde was practicaly a the very tip of the nose of my car.

[poly_poly-man]

hmm, so let me get this straight, they found the problem, fixed it, and it still leaked for a bit and has since stopped?

More than likely there was still a bunch of coolant all over various parts of the engine, just spilling off after they fixed it.

When you say your coolant tank was 1/4 full, you're talking about the overflow tank, right (the plastic one in the front of the engine bay, next to the rad itself)? If so, just make sure it stays between the fill lines and you're fine. If it's extremely low, it still doesn't matter much, just fill it up (the system pretty much has to empty that out before it loses any coolant itself).

[Jables_WRX_Junki]

yeah they said lower hose was leaking and upper one was getting there. so they repaired it. and the day after where i had my car parked was a puddle of coolant. and yes i mean the overflow tank thank you for the correction. Yeah there is some coolant in but its definetly low. pretty sure its stille between the two lines. And yeah i havent seen anymore drips at all on the ground
thank you thats a huge relief. i love having this site lol

[SD_GR]

Take the car back. Have them pressure test for free.

[teflon_jones]

Yeah there is some coolant in but its definetly low. pretty sure its stille between the two lines.

It's perfectly normal that the coolant level in the overflow tank is down towards minimum while the car is cold and up near the max when it's hot. That's exactly why the overflow tank is there because the cooling system has a lot of fluid in it and it expands and contracts a lot.

I'd have to disagree with roly-poly though. You're not going to get a puddle of fluid from extra fluid just being on various parts after the repair was done. You'll probably have a small amount in a few places, but most of that would have dripped off and/or been blown off by the wind going through the engine bay and you wouldn't get a puddle except maybe at the shop where the work was done in the parking spot where the car was put after the work was complete.

[Jables_WRX_Junki]

well ive driven about 25 miles today on one trip. engine temp stayed below half the hole time. the last 3 times ive driven there have been no drips or puddles or any sign of coolant leaking. its about 83 degree and muggy today so the coolant must be cycling through still i would think. I also forgot to mention that the coolant looked watery than normal. still green but not as concentrated green as fresh coolant. not sure if thatt helps to solve this prob. I just cant imagine there being a leak. I just had a complete pre purchase inspection done on the car plus a few more tests. Had my timing belt and water pump replaced. O ring tensionor, thermostat, timing belt bearing, fuel ratio censor, upper and lower radiator hoses replaced. Ive been taking my japanese cars here for yours and thats the only kind they work. Humans are not perfect so only other thing i can think of is the clamps were not put on tight enough . loose hose. ugghhh