Radiator fluid drop...cause for concern?

[leftyguns21]

on Sunday I did a simple drain/fill of the radiator fluid in my 4th gen. went as expected, removed almost a gallon. filled up the radiator and recovery tank to the top line. I drove 80 or so miles in normal driving conditions no issues, until this morning. yesterday it was near 100 degrees here in Denver i sat in a bit of traffic getting home and a few hours later I ran a quick errand at night. this morning I saw a small, very small, puddle of fluid on my garage floor. is this cause for concern? it didn't look like it was dripping from the drain tube but there is some fluid near the bottom corner of the radiator. could it be just from spill over like I filled it too much or from the heat?

 

[ZebRuaj]

SLLC Pink and its compatible aftermarket alternatives usually leave an evidence trail after it dries off. I'd look for that first and try to identify where it's coming from and go from there.

 

[<<<<]

You should not have any leaks in cooling system. Why changing just radiator fluid? is in it just a small fraction of total cooling volume?

 

[leftyguns21]

You should not have any leaks in cooling system. Why changing just radiator fluid? is in it just a small fraction of total cooling volume?

I chose not to do a flush but just drain/fill every 30k for simplicity and to not introduce any possible containments. it comes out as pink as what goes in.

my car has been parked at work for 4+ hours now and there is no sign of fluid under it. I don't recall spilling any while filling it up and don't know why it would have taken 2+ days to drip to the bottom if I did. plus it dripped from drivers side and fill is on passenger side. when I get home ill take a more thorough look. hopefully its nothing

 

[leftyguns21]

this is still occurring but very randomly. I didn't see any drops for a few days but when I returned from a camping trip there was a couple of drops on my garage floor the next morning. it does appear to be coming from the drain plug, could I have tightened it too tight? it looks like its a very slow drip that splattering on the pan below and finding its way to the floor. it is very corrosive right so I want to make sure it doesn't stay on any of the tubes/parts its dripping on?

 

[TOYO74]

Clean coolant (antifreeze) is not corrosive. It it was it would eat your radiator and slowly dissolve your engine from the inside.

Re: drip from drain plug--there is a rubber gasket on the plastic plug. Maybe yours is damaged New drain plug is inexpensive to replace.

 

[leftyguns21]

Clean coolant (antifreeze) is not corrosive. It it was it would eat your radiator and slowly dissolve your engine from the inside.

Re: drip from drain plug--there is a rubber gasket on the plastic plug. Maybe yours is damaged New drain plug is inexpensive to replace.

thank you!
I'm hoping its as simple as replacing the drain plug. I don't know what else could have gone wrong since I only touched the plug and the cap.
when I tightened the plug I hand tightened it first, then gave it a 1/8th turn with pliers. Maybe hand tight is enough?

 

[<<<<]

You answered it... That plug is soft plastic and using any tool to tighten it is an overkill.

 

[leftyguns21]

thank you [MENTION=1747]<<<<[/MENTION]
I figured that could be the only reason. the complete randomness is what had me baffled. not sure why it doesn't leak every day.
ill get a new plug this week, empty the radiator again and be a little more careful with the plug.

 

[leftyguns21]

I ordered a new plug but it hasn't come in yet, but now I am not too convinced it is the drain tube. I was looking at it over the weekend and cleaned it out. the drain plug doesn't seem to have too much fluid on it, the hoses behind it(closer to engine) do and they are at the same level as the drain plug. if the drain plug is leaking/dripping only the stuff below it would be affected I assume. Plus the radiator is still full but the recovery tank is down a little. If the drain plug was leaking the radiator level would be lower, im going to have to spend more time this weekend tracing the leak drip

 

[leftyguns21]

its definitely not the plug. I drained the radiator last night, swapped out the plug and the little gasket ring and cleaned it all up. this morning there was new fluid dribbling. it appears to be coming from the bottom drivers side corner of the radiator. not sure how a drain/fill would have had any affect on this. maybe its pure coincidence and from the extremely hot days we have been having it ruined my radiator some how?!?

are there fixes for this or is a new radiator required?

 

[ZebRuaj]

Maybe the D/F removed the one piece of sediment that was filling in the hairline crack?

Not much you can do to save it. I don't trust those fix-in-a-bottle stuff. Do more harm than good.

Looks like you have a new maintenance project to do.

 

[leftyguns21]

well poo. thank you [MENTION=142282]ZebRuaj[/MENTION]
a quick google search says radiators typically only last 8-10 years, mine is 9 years old. maybe it was due anyway. time to learn how to swap out a radiator.