I have a 2002 sebring. 2.7 engine. it's been well taken care of. had a little coolant leak about a year ago. change the thermostat and its been fine until about two weeks ago. Notice a little drip here when the car would be parked for about 5 or 10 minutes after the car was shut off. then about a week i shut it off and it really pissed coolant, probably a about 3/4 of a cup in a stead stream until t cooled down. so. it doesn't seem to leak while the car is running or driving. only seems to be after the car is shut off and the engine begins to cool. change the radiator cap. (which was warn, Still dripping. cant see where its coming from but no of the hose i can reach a give a squeeze to some rough or brittle. i'm no mechanic, i know it is likely leaking while i'm driving but just getting blown back and not visible. what i really do not understand though is how sometimes it doesn't seem to leak at all, sometimes is just a little splatter. maybe as big around as a coffee cup, and the one day it really pissed it out. after that happened i topped it up with a few gulps of coolant and drove about 20 minutes hope and it didn't leak a drop.

no overheating and engine seems to run fine. no smoke coming out of my exhaust. no sweet or burning smell. and appears to be no oil and coolant mixing... but could it still be a beginning of the end of a head gasket? and the heat is blowing fine. a buddy says it could be the water pump seal starting to go? it has 221 km on it.. that means probably just over 100,000 miles.. could it be a junk thermostat starting to go after a year?

Before i get ridiculed on here i know i need to have it inspected and pressure tested! haha just figured i would pick some brains and see what some car guys think.

i have had this car for 3 years, second hand and well taken care off, has given very little problems. only have to do the thermostats, break pads and rotors and the thermostat. just as a tidbit before the 2.7 bashing begins.

 

You can buy leak detector dye to add to the coolant. The dye is visible under UV light like they have at dance parties, so you'll need to get a "black" light to see where it's leaking from. You can get a rough idea of the location of the leak by putting a clean cardboard under the car and see where it gets wet.

Sometimes you can see a white encrustation around where a leak has been.

If the water ump is leaking, it's likely that the leak will go into the oil and make the oil look like milk chocolate. Let's hope it's not that because replacing the water pump is an expensive proposition since it's buried deep under lots of stuff that takes a lot of labor to remove.

 

Hopefully, you have a leaking hose, or its the radiator that is leaking. The water pump is buried near the timing chain and it is an 8-hour job if you know what you are doing. You would have to take the intake manifold off, both valve covers, remove the power steering pump and tensioner, and remove the timing chain to get to the water pump. Hope to god that you do not have to replace the water pump because the 2.7 v6 is an interference engine and you could be rebuilding or buying a new engine with your car. Good luck!