And now a coolant leak....

[Outlawl]

I noticed a lot of water and a water puddle after I got back from the dealership. I thought may have been from the bath they gave it after the work was done. :dontknow:

WRONG. :argh: I have sprung a coolant leak. This hose seems to exit the Engine ( or water pump) from underneath the powersteering reservoir, runs along the top rear of the radiator, then over to this metal pipe assembly attached to a black bottle at the rear passenger side of the engine bay. ( OK, I haven't worked on cars since autoshop in the 80s.)

Is it any coincidence that the leak is where the metal meets the rubber part of the line DIRECTLY above the oil cooler lines I just had the dealer replace ?:marchmellow:

Since I am not under warranty anymore. I may as well get new lines for the whole coolant system at this point.:argh:

Assuming I don't want to take it back to the dealer at this point, where would I get my parts ?:dontknow:

 

[Outlawl]

update

So I assumed it was a coolant leak because I smelled coolant. I was wrong, I have TWO leaks now.:argh:

One from the AC line, where it meets the metal tubing on the passenger side. AND I have coolant leaking from the little stem/hose attachment below the radiator cap.:argh:

Both leaks are obvious once you warm the car up at IDLE. Shouldn't a CERTIFIED VIPER TECHNICIAN notice these things before returning it to the customer ?:dontknow:

 

[Venom Power]

update

So I assumed it was a coolant leak because I smelled coolant. I was wrong, I have TWO leaks now.:argh:

One from the AC line, where it meets the metal tubing on the passenger side. AND I have coolant leaking from the little stem/hose attachment below the radiator cap.:argh:

Both leaks are obvious once you warm the car up at IDLE. Shouldn't a CERTIFIED VIPER TECHNICIAN notice these things before returning it to the customer ?:dontknow:

Warm the CAR up at idle? I'm confused here..

 

[DevilDawg3097]

so you have a leak at your evaporator and your overfill tube. what work did they do?

 

[Outlawl]

they replaced the oil cooler lines with stinkers

on my TRUCK <- meant to say truck

 

[DevilDawg3097]

dude then that sounds shady to me. why did they mess with that stuff because obviously it wasnt leaking before you went. did they take the radiator out to replace the lines? wtf. something doesnt make sense. JMO when I get back to puttin my pistons in today I will double check and see. but I am pretty postive you dont have to remove anything but the old lines.

 

[Outlawl]

It definately appears neither line has to be removed for the cooler line job, but they possibly got bumped/pushed around ? The service guy says a few people had driven it as it had to go to a vendor for body work, maybe one of these " drivers" got a little rough with it ?

He also said something about a rack and pinion issue ( on a vm earlier in the week) but later recanted saying he saw no such problem.:dontknow:

I know it wasn't leaking before, but as soon as I got home, 2 puddles formed.:argh:

I blame myself somewhat for not letting it run some more in the Lot before I drove home. :burnout:

They left a cap from a fresh quart sitting on my fuse box. That was my first clue they got sloppy with it.

They were really busy at the time, the main thing that bugs me about
dealership service is you never get to talk to the mechanic, and dozens of people have access to your car that may or may not know what they are doing....:dontknow:

They open at 8am I guess I will bring the truck back and make a big stink.:argh:

 

[DevilDawg3097]

thats exactly what I would do. I hate bashing dealerships but at least by me there are very few places I would take my truck and all the viper techs out here usually get dicked so they quit and go start there own shop or work for a performance shop.

 

[JTS VENOM PERFORMANCE]

sounds like they may have overfilled the coolant possibly.

the coolant from the a/c line ,not sure of, but he line right at the cap is not too much a problem, it can either be tightened up or if it has a crack , take and cut off the cracked part and then reattach it and tighten.

sometimes(and not sure how much its driven) this will happen if it sits for a long period of time.

but it shouldnt be too hard fix, but does sound like they were a littel sloppy

before you take it back you might want to double check a few things, if they changed your oil, make sure its at the right point on the dipstick, and check the coolant level, as well as your oil filter.

btw, glad the lines worked out for ya sir

 

[Outlawl]

but it shouldnt be too hard fix, but does sound like they were a littel sloppy

btw, glad the lines worked out for ya sir

not so fast, It appears they crossed the cooler lines, doesn't the lower line connect to the lower and upper to the upper ? The upper line from the exchanger is connected to the lower/front connection on my oil pump...

I am pretty sure thats wrong....:argh:

Edit: the lines are otherwise perfect, thank you Stinker!

 

[GADodgetech]

not so fast, It appears they attached the crossed the cooler lines, doesn't the lower line connect to the lower and upper to the upper ? The upper line from the exchanger is connected to the lower/front connection on my oil pump...

I am pretty sure thats wrong....:argh:

Are you sure they had a Viper tech working on it?? Sounds to me that they just had a normal front line tech doing the job. It doesnt take a viper tech to do the oil cooler lines or fix a coolant leak. Im not a viper tech and I can fix just about anything on a Srt-10 car or truck. I work next to a viper tech and the classes he took are really just for the driveline and electrical, Vipers are very simple to work on. It does sound like they did a half assed job on your truck, take it back to them and tell them you want it made right. And remeber to keep your calm, showing your ass gets you nowhere.

 

[Outlawl]

Yeah, I just dropped it off this morning. I was cool, I had only drank half a cup of coffee then.

I joked with the 18 y.o. porter who gave me a ride home. "He had a %50 chance to get it right!". :dontknow:

I am confident they will have "righted the ship" by monday afternoon. :congrats:

 

[hemi71]

I would hate to have to take anything I own into a dealer where I did not have someone on the inside. I take all my cars/trucks to a local Dodge dealer where my good friend is a viper tech. I usually drop off whatever is going in at his place the nite before, he drives it in that morning, works on it and brings it home that nite. I've heard way too many stories about "test" drives while my son worked at a dealer a few years back.