coolant leak
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 876
Likes: 23
From: Prescott Valley, AZ
coolant leak
i was working on my car and noticed the coolant overfill tank was low. i put in more coolant and was low again just a couple days later. at first i couldn't see anywhere where it might be leaking. saw the tank was low again today and found it. it was wet at the bottom left corner of the radiator. looks like there are two metal lines that seem to come out of the side of the radiator and connect to hoses that pass by the lower left (drivers side) corner of the radiator. anyone have any experience with this? like to be armed with as much info as possible before I take it to the dealer. the car is an 08 coupe with 67k miles. thx
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 20,352
Likes: 568
From: Ventura County, Calif
Likely the plastic end tank. Very common issue. Here's one from a couple days ago:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...r-leaking.html
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...r-leaking.html
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 876
Likes: 23
From: Prescott Valley, AZ
you are right. the radiator tank was leaking. the guy who replaced it said he sees this issue all the time. i asked him if it is question of bad design, he said no. the front of a c6 is so low that repeated bottoming out ends up cracking the plastic tanks. the bottom of the radiator sits in a plastic base that often cracks along with the radiator and must also be replaced. mine has a hairline crack but doesn't go all the way through so he said i didn't need to replace it. good thing, the part is $450. it's been a long time since i've bottomed out but he said a small crack can start and take years before it spreads and goes all the way through and starts leaking coolant. now i need to drain and flush the entire system with new coolant.
Pro
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 525
Likes: 21
From: Houston Texas
I had the same problem last week tank kept running low but couldn't find the leak, finally found it lower left side of radiator, new radiator and lower hose and two hrs of my time and back in business. 
