Coolant leak

[JimS]

In the spring I had all of the fluids changed in my car including the coolant to start from scrach. I've noticed the smell of coolant since then, but saw no evidence of a leak until this past weekend. I moved the car to what will soon be my new residence. I noticed the coolant smell, I opened the hood and found that coolant had sprayed the inside of the hood. The leak looks like it is between the radiator and the fan on the drivers side. I have a 95' coupe with 19k miles. When I had the fluids changed my mechanic told me that when he flused the coolant he found rust. It was cleaned out the best he could. He told me that a car with low miles that has sat for some time will develop rust becasue of a chemical in the coolant will eat away at the metal. We discussed this issue and I was going to flush the system once more before winter storage. I guess I'm just wondering what the cost to fix this problem would be.

Thanks for your help in advance.
-JimS

 

[Vettelt193]

It is odd to have a radiator problem with such low miles... if it is coming from between the radiator and fans, it sounds like you need a new radiator. That would be my guess based upon the description, but C4 radiators usually don't spring leaks in the middle... they are much more likely to get a leak on or near the plastic end pieces in my experience.

 

[JimS]

The leak is on the far left side of the radiator. From the look of the spray on the inside of the hood it ran about 6" to 8" right on the seam between the radiator and fan. I'll let you know what comes of it. I've been looking at radiators on the web, what should they run. Most I've found are about $200, but I need to verify that they are the correct part. Are there any aftermarket radiators that anyone could recomend for a 95'?

Thanks,
-JimS

On a side note. I used the Honda all purpose cleaner (usually used for motorcycles) to clean away the discharge and it took off everything with a wipe. No damage was done to the paint inside the hood. This stuff is awesome.

 

[Topless]

ok..shade-tree time...

Untill you get a new radiator, put some pepper in the cooling system. (2 tblsps +/-) This will help slow/stop the leak and not damage the system. Sounds odd, but it works, trust me.

FYI, if you are in real trouble you can put a raw egg in the system. It plugs holes and it is soft enough not to hurt the water pump.

...heading back to the 20th century now.

 

[boblx2a]

Well I have never tried pepper or raw eggs but I have tried a couple of brands of stop leak from time to time. I don't usually recommend them to others because I have heard they can cause more problems then they fix. Sounds like you have a more serious problem then they could cause though. I had a small coolant leak in my '85, looked like it was coming from the top of the engine around the intake manifold. I used a commercial stop leak and it fixed the problem. It's been almost a year and the leak never came back. Even though I have flushed the radiator once and emptied and re-filled it twice, so I guess it worked.

Good luck with it.........

 

[Vettelt193]

I had a radiator go bad, and when I pulled it, it was just the plastic end peices... I took it in to a local radiator shop and they put new ones on, pressure tested it and flushed it for me. I had no troubles after that, and it was much much cheaper than 200... just something you may want to check out

 

[JimS]

Thanks for all of your advise.

I'm taking the car to my mechanic on Friday afternoon. I ran the car last night for about 10 minutes in the garage and didn't see the leak. I'd rather have it checked out and fixed though. I just don't want this to cause other problems in the long run. A few hundred to resolve the problem is worth it.

Thanks again,
-JimS

 

[Alex D]

Congratulations! You also have the famed six-year-left-hand radiator tank leak!! I just replaced mine a couple of months ago and found on teh forum that this is a common problem. The seal between the plastic radiator tank and the aluminum core goes bad and leaks. THis almost only affects low mileage cars.
Got my new radiator at www.radiator.com for $169 plus $9 for shipping and the radiator arrived in two days. Excellent service too......can only recommend