so apparently i have a radiator problem. it leaks a little anti freeze (a few drops) regularly. however the other day when i was driving up the driveway a contractor working near buy (new neighborhood) said i was leakin some coolant pretty bad. So i parked the car, waited, went out and checked it, and there were a few more drops than normal. so i pop the hood look in the pretty recently filled radiator for anti freeze and i can see the top of the thing inside the radiator (core?) i filled it up alot more than that. how far up is teh anti freeze supposed to be? im pretty sure its supposed to be over the (core?!) and you could not see any liquid with teh radiator cap off. is this a serious problem? whats the deal, im going to look at it in more depth sunday (HOME COMING WEEKEND BABY!!!) and hopefully address the issue. any ideas of what the problem is are appreciated and how far up do i fill that ****? thanks!

 

You fill it plumb to the brim and then some. If it is leaking, you either need to get the leak repaired or replace the radiator. Don't even think about using radiator stop leak snake oil. That crap can clog other parts of your cooling system you don't want clogged. If you are going to buy a new radiator, get back so we can go through the radiator purchase thing again for the 900th time. I have seen leaky radiators that were repaired at radiator repair shops that lasted for several years though. If it's a money thing.....get it repaired. If not, then get a new upgrade radiator.
On Edit: visually make sure it is the radiator leaking and not at one of the hoses where either a hose has gone south our a clamp has rusted out. Also, check your freeze plugs and intake manifold to see if it is coming from there instead of the rad. Also check the water pump for leaks. I guess the bottom line here is to determine exactly where you are leaking coolant, and fix that.

 

the coolant expands as it heats, so when you switch the engine off after a run, it gets very hot and it will over pressurize and push coolant out the rad cap. if you have a recovery system, it will suck it back in as the engine cools. if you dont, it loses that little bit of coolant

normal is to spit out the top inch or so (assuming no recovery system). it will never stay full to the brim, but it should be stable about an inch down. Over time you may need to top it up a bit.

If it spits down to the core on every drive or 2, you have a degree of blockage leading to over heating which in turn over pressurizes and spits more than normal volume of coolant/water/antifreeze out. this would be evident by quite a bit of coolant on the ground from just after you switch the engine off. it should be evident on the temp guage while you are driving.

If not, then there is a leak somewhere...

any rad shop should have a pressure tester...creates pressure in the cooling system. this will show up where the leak(s) are. it wont necessarily be the rad as Soaring said.

good luck