# All of the coolant poured out **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** beetle\ **Created:** [March 23, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/all-of-the-coolant-poured-out/137052 "2019-03-23T16:04:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Brandon\_Cleveland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f05b48/32.png) [@Brandon\_Cleveland](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Brandon_Cleveland)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/all-of-the-coolant-poured-out/137052/1 "2019-03-23T16:04:55Z")
I was running my 98 Volkswagen Beetle in my driveway after doing some small repairs and all of a sudden I see coolant running down my driveway and the vapor coming up from the hood. I checked the radiator hoses and they seem fine, the vapor was coming from the top right part of the engine not near the radiator so I don’t know what the coolant is pouring out of. ---
**Author:** ![COROLLAGUY1](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/corollaguy1/32/7575_2.png) [@COROLLAGUY1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/COROLLAGUY1)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 5:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/all-of-the-coolant-poured-out/137052/2 "2019-03-23T17:04:07Z")
> [@Brandon\_Cleveland](#): > > I checked the radiator hoses and they seem fine Are you sure? That amount of coolant is probably due to a burst hose. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/all-of-the-coolant-poured-out/137052/3 "2019-03-23T17:58:41Z")
It’s kinda hard to tell from here but this is a case where you crawl under the car with a flashlight looking at all the hoses, radiator, and tubes that carry coolant. Should be fairly obvious where the leak is. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/all-of-the-coolant-poured-out/137052/4 "2019-03-23T23:55:20Z")
If you were idling the engine for some time in the driveway while testing, diagnosing, etc, the coolant may have overheated b/c the radiator fan didn’t come on like it should have. When the coolant severely overheats something plastic or rubber usually bursts in the cooling system, often the radiator, or a hose. When you get the leak solved make sure the radiator fan turns on when idling for more than 5-10 minutes from a cold start, or when the dash coolant temp gauge moves higher than its normal fully-warm engine operating range. ---
**Author:** ![Cavell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cavell/32/43396_2.png) [@Cavell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cavell)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/all-of-the-coolant-poured-out/137052/5 "2019-03-24T13:19:42Z")
motor has coolant surge tank or overflow tank. check that and any hoses leading to it. check the heater hoses into the firewall area. any rubber/steel heater bypass hose assy’s in the area? you have a leak but cant find it and none on the net can tell you where your car is really leaking from. ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 7:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/all-of-the-coolant-poured-out/137052/6 "2019-03-24T19:19:35Z")
You could throw parts at it hoping to stumble upon the cause of the problem, but I recommend you have the cooling system pressure tested to isolate the leak or cause for overheating. My guess is either the heater core or a hose you can’t see. ---
**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/all-of-the-coolant-poured-out/137052/7 "2019-03-24T21:17:35Z")
It sounds like a heater hose let go. People usually replace their heater hoses about every 8-10 years but generally neglect the heater hoses. All hoses should be done at the same time unless the hoses are fairly new and a leaking hose has a defined cause, I.e. rubbed against something and wore through. ---
**Author:** ![researcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/edb3f5/32.png) [@researcher](https://community.cartalk.com/u/researcher)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/all-of-the-coolant-poured-out/137052/8 "2019-03-24T23:40:38Z")
Another item you might consider is a leaking water pump. You don’t mention replacing the timing belt. Usually at that time the water pump is replaced prophylactically because it such a pain to replace later. Hopefully, it is a broken pipe or hose which is lot more inexpensive to fix. ---
**Author:** ![Scrapyard-John](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@Scrapyard-John](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Scrapyard-John)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2019, 12:41am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/all-of-the-coolant-poured-out/137052/9 "2019-03-25T00:41:14Z")
Prophylactically? ---
**Author:** ![researcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/edb3f5/32.png) [@researcher](https://community.cartalk.com/u/researcher)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2019, 12:47am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/all-of-the-coolant-poured-out/137052/10 "2019-03-25T00:47:03Z")
That is sort of a medical term for doing something that is not necessary but can be done at the same time you are in there. Like doing an appendectomy while in the abdomen for a bowel resection. Such as replacing the water pump, idlers, and tensioner while replacing the timing belt. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/all-of-the-coolant-poured-out/137052/11 "2019-03-26T02:11:11Z")
prophylactically == preventively ---
**Author:** ![eddo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/eddo/32/2594_2.png) [@eddo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/eddo)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 5:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/all-of-the-coolant-poured-out/137052/12 "2019-03-26T17:03:48Z")
> [@Brandon\_Cleveland](#): > > I was running my 98 Volkswagen Beetle in my driveway after doing some small repairs What repairs had you just completed?