[petri.png]

Like the title reads, I’ve got a coolant leak at my engine block. It’s between there and the thermostat.

It was very sudden today while I was driving home. Had some misfiring coming off the line at a green light at about 4000 RPM in first gear. Figured it was a blip because it was warmer today, but saw smoke and quickly pulled off into my driveway (barely a quarter mile from that stop light). Waited for my mechanic roommate to come home to help me narrow down the location, and he said when I revved it, coolant was gushing from this area.

I looked up “Thermostat gasket” and saw something of a similar shape, but it’s not quite what I’m looking for. Any experience?

 

[Saabologo]

My apologies if you know all this already-- That is your distributor. The leak is engine oil from a worn o-ring. Lots of folks on the forum call it the "dizzy" because it spins round inside. It looks like it is leaking oil, which is very common. Get at sharp nail or awl and make two marks on BOTH the base of the dizzy and the head where it attaches. These marks will allow you to realign it when you put it back in. The dizzy is held in place by a clamp that looks like a 2-pronged fork. Remove the plastic distributor cap. Do not mix up where the spark plug wires are inserted into the cap because this causes the cylinders to fire in proper order. Take out the screw holding it in, which I believe is a 12mm "bolt". Then just pull the dizzy straight out. There is an o-ring around the stem of the dizzy. Replace that and it won't leak anymore.

It might be hard to find the exact o-ring, but one that goes on and is not too thick should work. Some folks put two skinny ones in the groove for the o-ring.

Hope that helps.

 

[petri.png]

My apologies if you know all this already-- That is your distributor. The leak is engine oil from a worn o-ring. Lots of folks on the forum call it the "dizzy" because it spins round inside. It looks like it is leaking oil, which is very common. Get at sharp nail or awl and make two marks on BOTH the base of the dizzy and the head where it attaches. These marks will allow you to realign it when you put it back in. The dizzy is held in place by a clamp that looks like a 2-pronged fork. Remove the plastic distributor cap. Do not mix up where the spark plug wires are inserted into the cap because this causes the cylinders to fire in proper order. Take out the screw holding it in, which I believe is a 12mm "bolt". Then just pull the dizzy straight out. There is an o-ring around the stem of the dizzy. Replace that and it won't leak anymore.

It might be hard to find the exact o-ring, but one that goes on and is not too thick should work. Some folks put two skinny ones in the groove for the o-ring.

Hope that helps.

Thank you for the response!! I really appreciate it. I don’t believe it’s the distributor, as the liquid that leaked actively as we were watching it was bright green (I instantly recognized it as the coolant I had put in two weeks ago). There is that little drip pan there that does have old oil on it, but I check it any time I open my engine bay and haven’t seen any recent (or consistently fresh) marks.

My roommate could be incorrect, and the coolant could have sprayed from behind this area and made it seem like it was gushing, but he seems pretty confident in this.

Don’t want to have confirmation bias though!! However, I’m 100% sure it was coolant.

 

[Cornbinder89]

Looks like a coolant leak, Not coming from the distributor.

 

[Saabologo]

Well I was sure off-track on this one! Onward!

 

[petri.png]

Well I was sure off-track on this one! Onward!

XD

 

[Carfixer2]

That is the distributor. But it looks like a coolant leak. Look at the hoses just past it for a pinhole. There are probably 3 different hoses in that area. You may have to fill the coolant and run it for a few minutes and see if you can see were the spray originates. If not a mechanic would put a pressure tester on the coolant tank and pump it up until they can see were the coolant is leaking from.

 

[jvanabra]

The three hoses are the l-shaped thermostat bypass hose, the turbo coolant feed, and the upper radiator hose.

Frankly, since the repair will involve draining the coolant, I would just replace all three.

 

[petri.png]

The three hoses are the l-shaped thermostat bypass hose, the turbo coolant feed, and the upper radiator hose.

Frankly, since the repair will involve draining the coolant, I would just replace all three.

thank you both so much! I work today but as soon as I’m home I’ll take another look at her and get started on repairing her. I’ll update if anything changes

 

[petri.png]

That is the distributor. But it looks like a coolant leak. Look at the hoses just past it for a pinhole. There are probably 3 different hoses in that area. You may have to fill the coolant and run it for a few minutes and see if you can see were the spray originates. If not a mechanic would put a pressure tester on the coolant tank and pump it up until they can see were the coolant is leaking from.

Home from work, and found it within 15 minutes of looking on my own. It seems to be coming from what I believe is the thermostat bypass hose. it’s a thick, J-shaped hose about 1.25 inches in diameter that connects straight to the head. I squeezed the hose to make sure and it oozed coolant, my suspicions are confirmed!

I’ve got it from here. Thank you guys for the help I always appreciate it!!

 

[petri.png]

I will also note I plan to replace all the hoses soon after having this issue. seems like a smart move to make maintenance-wise considering I wanna keep this poor thing running for as long as I possibly can haha

 

[Carfixer2]

Sounds like a good plan. It's a great car to keep running.

 

[kgrosso]

The first thing pops into (or out of) my wizened brain is the little bypass hose with which every SAAB 900 is provided. It can be found at the front of the cylinder head and is rather smallish. If that is the leak, don't mess with it: fix/replace it ASAP. Aside from leading to an overheat and all of that unhappiness, it'll also shoot coolant onto and under and into your distributor cap, so that after you've fixed the hose problem and cleaned up the mess you can see, you'll be left with a likely no-start condition, secondary to all the mung inside the distributor. Best of Luck!