My van has been sitting in the garage for most of the day. When I took it out to run some errands this evening, I realized that the coolant was leaking all over the driveway at my destination.
It has leaked to the point that the coolant reservoir is empty now. I don't know where the source of the leak is, but it was spewing out from around the bottom of the radiator area. I opened up the hood and found some spray from the radiator cap.
Any ideas why my coolant is leaking? Has this happened to anyone else?
TIA
3.3dude
11-08-2004, 09:10 PM
Some updates to my issue:
After the engine cooled down for a bit, i checked the radiator cap and found that it was loose. I tightened it and then filled up the coolant reservoir with some water just to see if the leak was still present. To my surprise, no leak.
I started up the car, and let it sit on the driveway to ensure that there was no leak. I also cranked up the heat control to high -> and only cold air came out (even after 5 min of warming up). I proceeded to drive around the block, and found that when the car was in motion, hot air would come. When stopped, only cold air came.
Any ideas?
gas28man
11-09-2004, 10:07 AM
You have air pockets in your cooling system. Check the radiator again. It will be low again. Refill it and the overflow reservoir. Run the engine for short periods and check and fill again. Keep doing this until it stops taking fluid. Don't take any long drives until you feel constant heat under all conditions from your climate control.
Rick
3.3dude
11-09-2004, 11:44 AM
thx for u'r tips gasman.
i ended up taking my van to the stealership anyway cuz it's still under bumper-to-bumper coverage. turns out that the water pump seal was blown, so they replaced it and filled up new coolant.
i will have to wash my engine bay now to get rid of all that spray.
six pack
11-09-2004, 10:02 PM
So who left the rad cap loose?
Dodgevanman
11-10-2004, 06:59 AM
The "Radiator Cap Gnomes" did it.
3.3dude
11-13-2004, 02:17 AM
i guess when the water pump seal failed, there was some pressure buildup within the cooling system that eventually led to the radiator cap popping to let out the pressure.
six pack
11-13-2004, 11:59 AM
i guess when the water pump seal failed, there was some pressure buildup within the cooling system that eventually led to the radiator cap popping to let out the pressure.
They do that automatically, if it was loose.....somebody left it that way.
