How do you find a coolant leak?

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:13 am

I'm losing coolant. Very slowly, but I am losing it.

How does one find a coolant leak?

-It's not leaking into the oil, as my oil is clean.
-I don't think I'm losing it from any of the hose connections, but I can't get to everything to be sure.
-When I park, there isn't a puddle or anything indicating it's been leaking out.

Any ideas? It's not bad, and I keep a pretty good eye on my car, so I don't let it run out.

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:16 am

could be a leaky heater core. dont know where the coolant would go though.

Post by **Legacy777** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 2:35 am

look on the front passenger side plastic radiator end cap. That is a very common failure point for these cars.

When mine was leaking, I really didn't know where at first. The level would go down to a certain point, and then it would stop. Basically, it stopped leaking once the level got below the crack.

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 4:32 am

Hmm.... I'll have to check that out.

I other news, I finally got around to painting the drip guard rail above the passenger door. Looks MUCH better without a bit of chrome showing.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 6:25 am

Do a pressure test maybe?

If you have a source of low-pressure compressed air, ideally that you could regulate from 0 up to maybe 20 psig, you can attach it to the nipple on the radiator cap fitting and use it to pressurize the system until the coolant leak appears.

Flip_x · Post by **Flip_x** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 8:25 am

check if the radiator caps gasket is broken..

mine was and i couldnt figure out why i was losing fluids then i saw its missing big chunk in the gasket...

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 7:22 pm

Great ideas. I'll check them out today.

I have a little vacuum pump that I can hook up backwards to pressurize the system.

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 7:44 pm

I gotta go try pressurizing it, but it looks like it may be the radiator end tank. There is a little wetness on the plastic windage tray under there, and that's the only thing that could be leaking there.

Post by **Legacy777** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 11:32 pm

trust me....it's so damn common for those things to go.

I didn't see it initially because that little metal piece that goes between the radiator and ac condensor was hiding the leak.

JasonGrahn · Post by **JasonGrahn** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 12:40 am

http://www.techshop-ets.com/ts902/ts9026.htm

http://www.mityvac.com/automobile.html

http://www.brightdyes.com/

http://www.autobarn.net/fluorleakdet1.html

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 11:33 pm

It's definitely the end tank. I was running to get dinner tonight, and on the way back, I noticed the temp rising. Got home, popped the hood and voila! There was steam coming from the passenger's side end tank and coolant on the splash gurad thingy.

Any ideas on fixing it? I don't have the $$ for a new radiator, and there aren't any junkyards around for me to pull a used one.

JasonGrahn · Post by **JasonGrahn** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 12:22 am

how big of a crack?

JB weld may work for a while.

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 12:43 am

I don't know yet. I have to let it cool down and pull it out, as it is on the forward side, where I can't get to it. Also, it started raining like the hammers of hell as soon as I got inside after checking it.

I'll find out later tonight or tomorrow.

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 5:59 am

I couldn't wait. I just pulled the radiator.

The crack looks to be 2.5" long on the forward side, running down the length of the end tank.

Any suggestions?

On a side note: I didn't realize my car had a factory tranny cooler as well as an oil cooler. While I was pulling the radiator, I noticed one of the hoses was dripping red. I traced the line back and found out that it led to the tranny.

Kinda cool.

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 2:20 pm

Okay. I got the radiator assembly apart and cleaned up somewhat. I am going to re-spray the lower rail thingy and the fan shrounds with flat black primer so they don't rust any more.

Can someone get a pic of their lower radiator hose for me? I went to pick up a new one from Advance Auto, and it was just an L of tubing. Mine was a simple S shape, with the outlet and inlet pointing forward and backward, respectively.

I was also curious, because ordering a new one from the stealership, I noticed that their exploded diagram showed the same L-shape as the AA one.......

I know this car has had some work done, but changing the outlet orientation of the water pump...? That seems pretty far-fetched to me.

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 2:35 pm

nevermind. I was thinking wrong. It is the right hose. The one that was in there kinked to the back some, giving it an S shape. The replacement hoses didn't have this kink. It got me all confused.

Is it worth waiting a week to get an OEM hose instead of going to AA and getting theirs?

professor · Post by **professor** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 3:37 pm

a used radiator that old is just an old radiator waiting to crack. unless you can find a known, newer replacement radiator that someone isn't using, you'll probably be better off to pony up for a new one

I make plastic for a living and I hate plastic radiator end tanks... one of the worst applications of plastic, ever

nylon gives up after about 10 years in hot glycol/water, its as simple as that

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 3:52 pm

Yeah, but I don't have the $$ for a replacement right now. If it will just hold up for a month or so, I should have enough for a new one. Until then, though.......

I actually found a guy at the scooby dealership around here that used to sell radiators. He's gonna hook me up with a discount.

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 7:35 pm

Well.... The JB weld didn't work. It's slowly weeping out while the car's off, and lightly squirting out while idling.

I just told my uncle, and he said he'd see what a buddy of his at fluidyne could do. Maybe get a 3-row radiator....

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 10:54 pm

My brother suggested something, and I just slapped myself for not thinking of it before. Why not use silicon? It's used for high-temp applications, and should be able to stand up to the coolant pretty well.

I drained off coolant so it's below the level of the crack, and applied some silicon. Hopefully that will hold up a bit better.

I'm not expecting the world of it, but if it can get me around for a while, I will be happy.

JasonGrahn · Post by **JasonGrahn** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 11:14 pm

wait till it cures b4 you fill up again

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 2:09 am

I am.

I just drained off enough to be below the level of the crack, and applied some. After it dried some, I put a bit more on just to be sure.

One reason the JB Weld may have failed is because I didn't let it cure for the full 24 hours. Just a little over 14 or 15 hours.

Post by **Legacy777** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:44 am

JB weld will not hold......

IronMonkeyL255 · Post by **IronMonkeyL255** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:57 am

I know that now.

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How do you find a coolant leak?

How do you find a coolant leak?