This thread is mainly for those who were with me at the time I was at the Solo2 Auto-X event on March 20th.
I finished up 12 laps, and was about to go on my last set of 4 runs. As I was waiting in the pre-grid towards the front, a tech-personnel pointed at my car and shouted that I was leaking coolant from the drivers side at an abnormally fast rate. Another tech personnel came as well and advised that I should pull over to the side before going out on the track again.
I pulled over and opened the hood. Soon there were about 4 guys around me including vwong and eventually I decided to stop for the rest of the day, before I create more headaches in the future. Thank God I listened to them.
I parked my car at the parking lot and borrowed a jack and wooden planks to prop the car up to see where the leak was coming from. Colin (Phryxis) and I weren't really able to pinpoint where the leak originated from, but it definitely was not coming from the top or bottom of the radiator. I ran towards the main RV where the officials were standing, and I asked the head of the event if he could look at the car. For the next hour or so, it was ruled that the leak was coming from the back of block around the water pump and timing belt area, where the coolant lines runs from the intake manifold.
I had the car towed to my local mechanic in Burbank about 50 miles away, which cost $200. Yes...$200. That is still cheaper than the AAA rate of $320. Unfortunately there was a spare trailer that I could have used but the owner of the trailer had already headed for home so I was only left with the option of towing it back home. The car sat in front of the mechanic's garage for 2 nights since his shop was closed.
Today (Monday), I received a call from my dad telling me that the water pump was the culprit for the leak. Apparantely the previous owner of the car had water pump problems and resorted to replacing the unit with a very low quality aftermarket one. I presume that the constant hard driving from autocrossing put too much strain on the water pump and just went kapoot. Since it takes a lot of removing different parts around the drivers side in order to access the water pump, I figured it would be a good idea to replace the timing belt, and whatever necessary parts needed. The mechanic said he would also replace bearings, seals, and gears. He didn't specify, and I wasn't able to ask him directly, but I assume it has to do with the timing. Also I asked for any necessary adjustments to the valves since the head cover is off.
Sorry for the long post, but just wanted to give an update to those who were interested. Thanks for reading it if you did
Linear Mode
