Have a small, very intermittent coolant leak on a 98 Olds Bravada. The leak does not resemble the typical leak you get from a water pump leaking out of the weep hole. I'm wondering if its just a gasket failing somewhere (hope fully not the intake manifold gaskets but probable) Engine only has 116,000 miles, which to me seems to soon for a water pump to fail. Maybe not though. Anyone replace a water pump circa this mileage? I replaced the wp on my 93 olds around 120,000 but only because I was being proactive and was addressing the lower intake manifold gasket problem.... common on this engine. I'm currently flushing the system on the 98 and have only once seen it leak a little bit. Was leaking alot more while sitting with the dex cool still in the system. Thanks

 

Most auto parts stores rent/sell cooling system pressure testers. That's what you'll need to determine where the leak is coming from. Water pumps can fail at any time. I've seen quite a few fail around 80K miles. If green, (ethylene glycol) coolant is added, they will fail prematurely as the silicate in the coolant will destroy the seal.

 

yeah 100k is about the time anything can go wrong i do way more intakes on blazers then water pumps though. best way is to pressurize the system and then look around with a flashlight and see if you can see where its coming from