radiator fluid leak
Thread Starter
6th Gear
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
From: Austin Texas
radiator fluid leak
On rare occasions, when I run my 96 hot (225-235) it will purge some radiator fluid from the front of the engine. Once I looked and it was spraying a small thin stream from the right top of the radiator. It seems to only happen after I fill with radiator fluid then drive it hot in traffic then park it. Does not seem to impact engine performance or cooling performance at all. Has new water pump and thermostat.
It almost seems like it gets too much pressure built up and has to purge out excess fluid. Any ideas?
It almost seems like it gets too much pressure built up and has to purge out excess fluid. Any ideas?
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 34,873
Likes: 487
From: Lacey WA RVN 68-69
NCM Sinkhole Donor
The pressure in the cooling system should be dictated by the pressure rating of the cap if everything is working properly. Any excess pressure is vented from the expansion tank down to the overflow tank. Once the engine cools, coolant is sucked back from the overflow tank into the expansion tank.
It sounds like you have a leak in the radiator, which needs to be fixed right away as leaks in the radiator will get bigger. How that leak was caused is something else. Outside of just a old radiator starting to fail, it could be a bad water pump, a sticky thermostat (even though they have been replaced) or a radiator hose that is collapsing. Any of these things can cause excess pressure.
If there has been a lot of coolant loss, you may have air trapped in the system.
It sounds like you have a leak in the radiator, which needs to be fixed right away as leaks in the radiator will get bigger. How that leak was caused is something else. Outside of just a old radiator starting to fail, it could be a bad water pump, a sticky thermostat (even though they have been replaced) or a radiator hose that is collapsing. Any of these things can cause excess pressure.
If there has been a lot of coolant loss, you may have air trapped in the system.
