I have a 04 sedan with 235K miles on it.
A week ago while I was Idling (waiting for the light to change) on the freeway off ramp my car started to heat up then a big cloud of smoke flushed out from under the car
I quickly turned on the heater to full blast which helped to bring the temp down a bit and since I was a mile or less away from home I decided to go for it.

Once the car cooled down I checked what could be the cause and I found out the Upper oil filter cooler hose had a hole in it leaking all the coolant.
So I replaced that hose and went ahead and replaced the lower oil cooler hose as well just to be on the safe side.
Added water and tested it out and everything seemed good.

Then after a few days of daily driving I drove on the freeway for about 10 miles with no issues but when I exited and then got to a stop light it started to heat up with the gauge reaching about 3/4
so I drove off and I noticed the temp started going down. Parked the car, and let it sit for a few minutes. Drove it back home.

I once again checked and noticed it was low on water/coolant. I figured that was the issue so I bought some coolant.
Drained all the water and coolant currently in the car to add fresh coolant and the radiator got full with just one gallon worth but the reservoir
was overflowing and leaking everywhere. I let it sit for some time and then rechecked it and found that it was once again low.

So I pressure tested it to find the leak and noticed (see pictures) what I thought at first was a coolant leak coming from the oil pan gasket
but after I looked closer it seems like it is coming from higher up but I couldn't find any coolant hoses in the area and it seems like
its coming from the engine.

After researching online it seems like it is possibly coming from the water pump or the thermostat.
Could it actually be from there or am I missing another part I should check first ?



Sorry for the long post but I just wanted to make sure I put all the details out there to help diagnose it better.

 

Bro I literally have the same exact problem...let me know what you find out...it's coming from behind the AC compressor on the side of the block...not sure what it could be...but it's aggravating

 

Pressure test some more more then likely it's a rotted hose spraying the side of your block. If your not losing power then it's not your heads. I would suspect that it's the hose clamp that's holding the hose to your stat they rot and create pin hole leaks from the clamping pressure of over 16 years lol. Best way to tell is fill it with blue food coloring something darker in color and remove the intake and get a good look down there if your that worryed then change your oil and see what pops up.

P.s. if you use the blue dye method please do a flush after words and don't run the car until then.

Actually one quick Google search tells me it's your water pump. It's coming out of a weep hole in the block. That's new to me.

 

Exactly right and let me tell you it's tough to fix...pulled front housing off just to have more room...my trying to get the water pump out was like trying to get your wife to fix you a sandwich...nearly impossible...but it's done and over now no more leaky

 

You ain't kidding. I hope you actually did the timing while you were at it too just to kill two birds with one stone. Last time I did all that I said screw it and I took off the whole front bumper/clip took me a little while but it was nice having all that extra room.

 

I did not it was supposed to had been done already...and i did the same took just about front cap off I'm a bigger guy the more room the better

 

I am almost 100% sure it is the water pump I just haven't gotten the work done yet to confirm it.
All signs show that it is the water pump.

I called a few shops around in the area and they all quoted me around $800-$1100.
That's too high and figured I could probably handle it myself by following the FSM, and a few YouTube guides.

First I removed everything regarding the hoses, belts, and radiator fans out of the way.
I bought the new tensioner and water pump but then I got busy with other things.
So I called another shop I found online with great reviews and they quoted me $287 all in.

Now im undecided if I should continue the job myself or take it to this shop instead.
I only spent around $120 in parts which I can return if I needed too.

I've read some say its not that hard when following the FSM, and others say it's really easy to make the timing jump creating a bigger problem

YouTube guide on replacing the water pump.

FSM attached