Radiator leaking coolant.
04-07-2014, 06:59 PM
#1
3rd Gear Member
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location:
Posts: 548
Radiator leaking coolant.
2003 Mustang GT 5 speed 98k miles.
Recently flushed the coolant (properly) about a week ago which to my knowledge was the same coolant that came from the factory- 11 years old. The coolant reservoir had some brown sludge (rust, not oil?) at the bottom of it and also some scale has been now surfacing in the reservoir now that it is clean.
Today i parked my car on my driveway and about 8 hours later i went out to use my car and there were two small puddles under each corner of the radiator perfectly spaced apart and approximately the same size. All connections were remade properly when i flushed the coolant and *I did NOT remove or touch any connections on the passenger side whatsoever.
as far as i can tell i dont have a blown head gasket
car does not overheat
water pump/intake manifold are not leaking
the only two explanations i can come up with myself are that i overfilled the coolant reservoir a little too much and it just overflowed from the radiator onto the driveway - are there weep holes on our radiators? also why would this take a week to happen?
**i did squeeze the upper radiator hose a few times presumably with the thermostat closed while i had the hood popped while adjusting something else**
other explanation i can gather is that flushing the radiator removed scale and sludge/rust that was sealing up cracks in the radiator and now they are open and free to leak.
Recently flushed the coolant (properly) about a week ago which to my knowledge was the same coolant that came from the factory- 11 years old. The coolant reservoir had some brown sludge (rust, not oil?) at the bottom of it and also some scale has been now surfacing in the reservoir now that it is clean.
Today i parked my car on my driveway and about 8 hours later i went out to use my car and there were two small puddles under each corner of the radiator perfectly spaced apart and approximately the same size. All connections were remade properly when i flushed the coolant and *I did NOT remove or touch any connections on the passenger side whatsoever.
as far as i can tell i dont have a blown head gasket
car does not overheat
water pump/intake manifold are not leaking
the only two explanations i can come up with myself are that i overfilled the coolant reservoir a little too much and it just overflowed from the radiator onto the driveway - are there weep holes on our radiators? also why would this take a week to happen?
**i did squeeze the upper radiator hose a few times presumably with the thermostat closed while i had the hood popped while adjusting something else**
other explanation i can gather is that flushing the radiator removed scale and sludge/rust that was sealing up cracks in the radiator and now they are open and free to leak.
Last edited by Burtonsnow157; 04-07-2014 at 07:03 PM.
04-09-2014, 10:00 AM
#2
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Illinois
Posts: 99
replace
if the radiator was that cruddy I would remove and inspect. The plastic cracks easily. Also pull the hoses and inspect. It could also be overfill that was sitting on the radiator shelf, but not likely.
Run the car and then stop it when hot, pop hood and listen. Normally you will hear it pissing somewhere if it is leaking.
At some point a 100K 10 year radiator will be replaced, so you are not really throwing away money.
Run the car and then stop it when hot, pop hood and listen. Normally you will hear it pissing somewhere if it is leaking.
At some point a 100K 10 year radiator will be replaced, so you are not really throwing away money.
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