Tom

Dear    Tom,

Q Help! When I parked my car yesterday and turned off the engine, all this

green water came pouring out all over the driveway. My car is a 1997 Pontiac
Grand Am with a V-6 engine. What’s wrong?

Claudia—Lyerly, Washington

Claudia,

A The green water that you refer to is engine coolant. There is a coolant

leak in your car. Have a cooling system pressure test performed. With this
test, the technician forces air pressure into the car’s cooling system in an
effort to force a leak at the weakest point, exposing exactly where the coolant
is leaking out of the engine. Sometimes coolant leaks are hard to find and
only exhibit themselves under certain circumstances. If this is the case and
the leak is hard to find, find a shop that has an ultraviolet leak-detection
system.

The technician will install a fluorescent dye into the cooling system
and then you will drive the car for a few days. Take it back to the shop, and
they will shine an ultraviolet light on the engine. If there’s a leak, it will show
up under the light as a bright yellow color because of the dye.