# Coolant Leak - Bad Water Outlet?



## EricSmit (Dec 21, 2016)

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/jaxrs/download/doc/UCM507379/SB-10057265-3557.pdf


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## EricSmit (Dec 21, 2016)

Everyone has issues with leaking coolant.  Picture of where it's leaking?


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Water outlets are a common fail item. You need to get that looked at asap - it can fail catastrophically.

I think the outlet has been redesigned and may require replacing one of the hoses to properly match. The water outlet is covered by powertrain warranty (if it's still in effect), but the hose is not.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

BladeOfAnduril said:


> Hi guys. I've recently noticed a slow loss of coolant as the level has been dropping in the overflow container. The leak seems to be seeping coolant from the upper radiator hose where it connects to the water outlet. Previously the overflow hose leaked and was replaced by the dealership but I don't believe the outlet was replaced at that time. Anyone else had this issue? Thanks.


Is it the outlet or the hose connection? My first thought is if it is the hose, take it off and clean the connection and/or replace the hose. 

there are a ton of coolant/antifreeze leak threads. There are some very good ones, but I am at work and cannot look through all of them. Search Search Search.


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## BladeOfAnduril (Apr 27, 2012)

EricSmit said:


> https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/jaxrs/download/doc/UCM507379/SB-10057265-3557.pdf


Thanks, but the water pump is on the other side of the engine. I'll try to get a pic.


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## BladeOfAnduril (Apr 27, 2012)

Here are some pictures. Might be the hose connection, but I'm not sure. Might be cracked outlet too. 



















Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

You may have to catch the leak in action to know for sure. With my older cars, I tend to find leaks if I raise the hood after a drive and wait 5 minutes or so. At first you may not see anything, but after a couple of minutes it will leak like crazy and you can find it.


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## EricSmit (Dec 21, 2016)

BladeOfAnduril said:


> Thanks, but the water pump is on the other side of the engine. I'll try to get a pic.


No, I was saying everyone has a problem with coolant leaks. 

You need to examine that fitting and hose.


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## 2012_Cruze_2LT (Feb 27, 2018)

Was the issue the hose connection or the water outlet? I'm having the same issue right now.


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## 2012_Cruze_2LT (Feb 27, 2018)

EricSmit said:


> No, I was saying everyone has a problem with coolant leaks.
> 
> You need to examine that fitting and hose.


Was it the hose connection or the water outlet? I'm currently having the same issue right now.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

BladeOfAnduril said:


> The leak seems to be seeping coolant from the upper radiator hose where it connects to the water outlet.


Well, it's my turn. I seem to have a leak at exactly the same spot. I can't tell if it's the plastic water outlet or the hose not clamping right. If it's the hose, I'll do it myself. If it's the water outlet, I have a couple of months on the powertrain to get this fixed. The hose does look just a bit odd, so I'm not sure.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

It's hard to see in this photo, but it appears to come out from between the hose and the plastic (at about the big arrow), flows to the upright portion of the water outlet, slips around the side (small arrow) and then flows/drips down from there.

The lower hose in the picture is the one that goes to the radiator. I forget where the small top hose goes.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

It's only been about three days, but at the risk of jinxing myself, it seem the fix was simple. Open up the clamp with a pair of channellocks and push the hose onto the water outlet as far as it can go. It was only down by 1/4 or less. But it seems to have stopped the leak. Time will tell if it was fix or just a band-aid.


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## frankh (Aug 25, 2014)

Almost certainly a bandaid. The reason I say that is because when I changed mine I found the leak was coming from the molding seam between the two halves of the outlet.

As the crack develops it will progress past the hose clamp and start leaking again.


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## Gus_Mahn (Aug 16, 2011)

It's a common failure. Of my brothers 2 Cruzes and my 3 we've changed 2 outlets. Both failed around 80,000 miles. Change the outlet's hose/fitting to the surge tank at the same time. It's also a common failure.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

frankh said:


> when I changed mine I found the leak was coming from the molding seam between the two halves of the outlet.


Good to know. I would have thought it would have started where the different connections meet.


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## akulahawk (Mar 16, 2015)

My Cruze developed a leak in the same area a few months ago. I did the same thing, band-aided it by pushing the hose up as far as it would go and that slowed it down for a bit. Then last week the water outlet housing crack opened quite a bit and I had to replace the outlet. Unfortunately the replacement is plastic and will eventually fail, as the original one did. However for now my car no longer has any coolant loss as far as I can tell. The good news, if there is any, is that replacement of the water outlet is not that difficult. The bolts are a little different, they're "E10" and not your standard 10mm bolt.


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## Colez (May 12, 2018)

A few months ago I had a small leak in that same spot so I adjusted the clamp and it seemed to have fixed it until today I noticed it leaking in the same spot so I popped the hose off of the water outlet and found the plastic molding had pretty much crumbled inside the hose here is a picture I took


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## Mary luvnmyfam (Apr 17, 2020)

BladeOfAnduril said:


> Hi guys. I've recently noticed a slow loss of coolant as the level has been dropping in the overflow container. The leak seems to be seeping coolant from the upper radiator hose where it connects to the water outlet. Previously the overflow hose leaked and was replaced by the dealership but I don't believe the outlet was replaced at that time. Anyone else had this issue? Thanks.


My daughter has a 2014 Cruze and kept having the same problem but nobody could find the problem. I decided to change out the top and bottom hoses but when removing them I noticed the plastic housing they were clamped to was shattered causing the coolant to gush out on the engine making it look as if the car was overheating but it wasn't. I hope the feedback helps and hopefully that's all it is with it being a cheap and quick fix..


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Mary luvnmyfam said:


> My daughter has a 2014 Cruze and kept having the same problem but nobody could find the problem. I decided to change out the top and bottom hoses but when removing them I noticed the plastic housing they were clamped to was shattered causing the coolant to gush out on the engine making it look as if the car was overheating but it wasn't. I hope the feedback helps and hopefully that's all it is with it being a cheap and quick fix..


Welcome Aboard!

The water outlet deteriorating is a pretty well known issue. As this car is also known for collateral damage, whenever you replace the water outlet, I would replace any other related plastic and probably the hoses as well. The cost for these parts is not that bad and many can be had with a lifetime warranty. Actually doing the work is pretty easy for most of the parts and we have many How-To:'s as well 

Remember to introduce yourself and your Cruze here.


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## radio_davio (Dec 28, 2018)

Thanks for this post, it's my turn for this leak. I think mine is the upper radiator hose is leaking at the plastic housing. Added a worm style hose clamp butted up against the original clamp as a bandaid until I can figure out how to access the hose's lower clamp.

Any advice on accessing the lower clamp on the upper hose?


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