^ In front of the passenger side front tire, I can see wetness under the battery tray and when I look up under the car it is wet where body panels meet under the resevoir. I'm pretty sure that's where it is leaking but I don't know for sure until I pressure test it, if I can even make it home. When I bleed the system of all air and crank it up the fans kick on it cools down but then heats up fast. When I bleed it lots of air coming out of the bleeder valve on top of the waterpump. I don't know the exact route the coolant goes, but I think air is getting drawn in through the leak when the system cycles the coolant. When it does cycle with no air in the system the temps drop down very low and very quickly, but then it heats up just as quick at which point if I bleed tons of air comes out.

 

there is a hose under the battery tray that goes to the coolant resovor and it will get holes in it from battery acid i think. there are also the heater core lines that go along that side.

 

Concerning your leak, I stand on what craby and me said about checking for leaks (i.e. the hose under the battery).

Fans:
Per the shobox.com, "The middle of the gauge is in the range of 210º - 220º. With factory programming, the PCM will command low speed fans (or primary fan) "ON" at 226º and "OFF" at 221º and high speed fans (or secondary fan) "ON" at 235º and "OFF" at 230º. The fans should come on before it gets to any part of the red zone." http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#cooling

If you want to control your fan turn on/off temps, you can buy a power programmer or a fan kit like I recently ordered http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HDA-3651/

 

I got a compression test tool from Autozone (the loaner program), and it will not hold a steady 18lbs of pressure. I also tested the radiator cap and it also can't hold any pressure either. Getting it home was zero fun. I'm guessing I need to remove the battery tray to check for leaks as my next move? Anything I need to do before this?

I've also lost about 20% of my coolant and it's been replaced with water. Is it okay to test it with as long as I'm not driving around like this for a while?

 

The only thing you need to do to get to the hose underneath the battery is to remove the battery. Remember that there are a few possible places the leak could be coming from. Also, the leak might be coming from a location far from the puddle, but may run along different components before finally dripping on the ground. Listed below are the most likely locations. If your car is leaking coolant, you might want to wear some kind of eye protection before crawling underneath, although you may not look very cool.

- I remember four coolant connections going into the passenger side of the radiator (including the low coolant level sensor)
- There is the hose under the battery we spoke of.
- The overflow tank

Radiator caps are cheap to buy at any automotive store. Be sure to get an 18 psi cap if you buy one. I recently replaced my radiator and I bought better hose clamps for all of the radiator connections. The clamps are also cheap and can be purchased at automotive stores.

If your coolant system is filled mostly with water instead of coolant, it will boil at a lower temperature and freeze at a higher temperature (because ethylene glycol has a much higher boiling point and much lower freezing point than water). A mixture mostly of water should not affect the pressure in the system.

If you want to remove any of the hose connections, you only need to drain the radiator with both bleed valves open. There will still be coolant in your engine after this, but it will stay there. Also, if you remove a hose, be ready to stuff the ends with a paper towel so coolant doesn't leak out. No matter how well you think you drained your system, there will be some residual coolant left in the hoses that will spill out (even if you try squeezing the hoses while its draining).

Good luck.

 

if its not holding pressure then the fluid is going somewhere, did u notice were? the overflow should only lose fluid when the system is heating up and suck in air as it cools. it is only used when the radiator cap opens to let exsess fluid out of the system as it expands from heating up. when u do the pressure test is the system is closed off from the overflow? i would assume that and if so, u were not losing fluid or pressure to the hose under the battery. refill the system and hook that new tester back up and see if u can locate the water leak sourse. just keep it up to pressure as it leaks down so where its losing pressure well eventually show. is the coolant resovore filled to proper level. if its emty and u have a bad radiator cap it will push fluid out as it heats and suck air in as it cools. hole in overflow hose will also do this. i dont think this is it as u are losing fluid as its running.

 

Okay I got another update. I didn't really have much time to work on it yesterday because I'm trying to get my bike running so I have some way of getting to work and school. I got a new radiator cap and installed it. It is still doing the same thing as the other day but now something interesting happens. When I shut the car off after it gets to the red zone, I can here what sounds like bubbling fluid (hissing/spurting). It sounds like it is coming from around the air intake. This noise did not happen before the new cap was installed. I'll have time to work on it today. This is what I'll do today (After working on my motorcycle);

I'll remove the battery and tray to get a better view of the reservoir. I'll also remove the air intake. Then I'll apply pressure to the system and find the leak.

 

there are hoses going into and out of the lower part of the tb, also a gasket on the bottom of the tb that could be bad. make sure the bleeder valve under there is closed.

 

Also make sure the pressure rating on the new radiator cap is the same as the old one. If you put on a lower rated one, that could/would explain your "hissing/spurting".

 

I once had bubbling sounds when I had mostly water in the cooling system and it got very hot. The boiling point of water at sea level is 212 deg F and if your water to coolant ratio is heavily water, then you may be hearing the sound of boiling water when your engine gets hot. I don't know if this is the case with your car.