Ok, background. My Monte Carlo had been leaking serious liquid into floor of the passenger side. I am 100% positive it was mostly water as it had no weird texture or smell, and would leak a couple inches deep. Curiously it stopped after some body work and whatnot and so it has been out of mind.

Today while at work (deliver pizza, in the Monte Carlo, lame I know) I notice a funny smell and I am definitely leaking something on the floor. A guy who knows cars says it is coolant, which sounds right since we checked and I had about zero coolant left. I was told a while ago I needed a flush, but quite frankly I am sick of that bull... I have dropped probably at least $1,500 in radiator flushes and they always tell me within months (regardless of where it goes or for what reason) I need a radiator flush.

So I need help. Two fold. First off any ideas on the leak? Second off, what can I do to permanently fix this. I don't have money to keep dropping hundreds of dollars on one or two (sometimes MORE) radiator flushes a year. I know there was a lawsuit against Chevrolet for the Dex-Cool... what are my options here?

How do I take care of this!?

I suspect this is going to be a real pain, it is all under the carpet and stuff, gosh I hope they don't have to pull that up .

Thanks in advance!

 

Do you have a sunroof? If so, the water is coming from your sunroof drains being clogged. If you don't have a sunroof, then your heater core has gone bad and it needs to be replaced.

 

Where are the sunroof drains- would they be pooling water on the floor of the passenger side?

Also, what are my "long-term" options here. Aside from just doing a flush and filling the thing with Dex-Cool again... how do I fix it so that I do not have to go through this crap every year of flushing it / overheating / etc.

Thank you.

 

I'm not sure where the drains are for Monte Carlos - I'm assuming you have a 2000-2005 MC? The drains for my Honda are underneath the cowl (right in front of your windshield, the plastic piece), but I don't know how the MC's are. Now that I've re-read your original post and you are missing coolant, you definately need to find out where the coolant is going. As I said before, if the liquid in the passenger floor of your car is in fact coolant, the heater core has gone bad. Otherwise, you need to park the car on level ground and look underneath the motor in case it's leaking. Also, open up your oil cap/filler neck and check for a chocolate milk-like substance. If that is the case, your lower intake gaskets have gone bad. Hope this has helped, but post more info about your car so others can know exactly what you're dealing with. (year, motor, etc)

 

Thanks it is 2003 Monte Carlo SS 3.8L. From what has been said here, and on another forum, I am pretty sure it is the heater box. The problem now is the expense of having that replaced, plus the radiator flush it will undoubtedly need. Now that my aftermarket warranty is no more I am thinking it might be time to get something else. I have loved my Monte Carlo, and I still do, but this thing has been a maintenance and repair hog and now that it will be on my own dime and not the warranty, I have no interest, or money, for that .

 

How many miles does it have on it? I really doubt it will need a radiator flush to be honest, I don't know why you've had to get so many. I've only flushed my radiator twice, once when I got the car at ~125,000 miles and once more once the motor was swapped at ~180,000.

 

after the heater core is changed out, it may indeed be best to get a flush, to make sure any additional crap is gotten out of the system. though after it's done it wont need done again for a few years

 

Sometimes (if it is just water) you have a cabin air filter and those like to leak into the passenger side onto the floor if they aren't installed properly. Especially after being changed and someone doesn't put the weather stripping back on right.

And if you are losing coolant, you need to find where it's going, not just keep flushing stuff. You could have a bad gasket somewhere that needs to be replaced.

 

I think now that the water leak and coolant leak were completely unrelated. The coolant leak has been a one-time thing, definitely not some progressing problem or common occurrence (IE I have not just been refilling it as it continues to leak).

My concern now is this. The estimate was just under $600... I can scrounge that together if I have to. I love this car, but I have had an aftermarket warranty until now, and without it there is no way I could have afforded the repairs over the years. I need to decide if I want to try and sell the car and replace it with something much more reliable, or take the gamble and keep it- and hope nothing goes wrong for a while .

 

If coolant is leaking on the ground, maybe its your water pump?

If you don't see coolant leaking on the ground, could be an intake gasket...