Coolant Leak

[Abom]

Hmmmm, my first "larger" problem with my Ex. It seems that coolant is pouring out from the bottom of the radiator. I just realized this now, as my overflow tank was empty and I wondered why, then had a look at my parking spot at work and noticed that the snow was green

Anyways, it seems like the leak is somewhere near the bottom of the radiator, on the drivers side, where the heater(?) coolant hose is. Because I didn't notice it right away, and it's probably been doing it for a week or so, there's quite the wet mess, so I can't really tell if it's the hose itself, or perhaps a fitting is leaking somewhere close to there.

It seems that it began happening when it turned colder and I started plugging the block heater in at night. Now this could be completely by coincidence, but it's worth mentioning.

Anyways, it's too cold outside (wind chill is making it -30 degrees celcius, -22 Fahrenheit) to try and diagnose/fix it myself, so off to the shop it goes tomorrow.

My question is, anyone ever experience something like this before ? I'm just looking to see what everything thinks it may or may not be, so if the shop tells me something completely insane I'll know to get a second opinion.

 

[BrooklynBay]

It might be the lower radiator hose. I would suggest that you use a radiator pressure tester to pressurize the system, and pinpoint the leak to avoid any guess work.

 

[Abom]

Makes sense, wish I had a radiator pressure tester

 

[BrooklynBay]

AutoZone might have one to loan out.

 

[marragtop]

I notice you are in the Yukon, so you probably just run straight anti-freeze, but is there any chance that your anti-freeze mix was off that could have cause the radiator to freeze and crack? Hopefully, it's just the lower hose.

 

[BrooklynBay]

 

[Abom]

This is also true, I should have drained and filled the system before the winter hit (I never thought of this in the summer, and I bought the Ex from a year-round warm climate, doh!). Anyways, it's off to the shop today so I'll update as I hear what's the matter with it.

And again, I plugged in the block heater last night and woke up to a nice green puddle in the snow. It seems that when I park it at work (where I don't plug in), it's not nearly half as bad. I'm thinking it's more than a coincidence that it happens more-so when I plug it in.

 

[Abom]

Update: Apparently there were some fittings coming out the rad that were very slow-dripping (this I already knew about), and apparently the radiator filler cap was completely shot, not sealing what-so-ever. From what I'm told, the cold weather made it even worse, especially when I fired her up on cold mornings, the cap wouldn't hold the pressure at all and was letting coolant leak out.

Filler cap fixed, 2 fittings fixed, all cleaned up, $70 later she should be good to go (knock on wood). They pressure tested the whole system several times at 6 psi, and could not find any further leaks.

So what do you know, the most simple, basic, stupid thing was the cause of my issue. Ah well, didn't cost as much as I anticipated, so I'm happy, and so is my Ex.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Pressure testing at 6 psi isn't enough to determine if there is a leak. An average radiator cap is rated at 13-16 lbs.

 

[Abom]

Pressure testing at 6 psi isn't enough to determine if there is a leak. An average radiator cap is rated at 13-16 lbs.

Ooops, I think I meant to put 16, and missed the 1

Plugged it in overnight and checked this morning, no apparent leaks, started it and let it warm up for 10 minutes, still no apparent green snow

 

[Abom]

Update: Bad news. The radiator is leaking where the upper transmission fluid line goes in. It's leaking coolant where the seal is supposed to be, that metal washer and nut, that is supposed to keep coolant from leaking from that opening.

The nut is cross-threaded, so even if removed and somehow the leak is sealed, the nut potentially might not go back on tight.

It's -28 degrees outside (-22 F), with wind chill it's about 5 degrees lower than that, frostbite warning outside. Too freaking cold to attempt anything. Called a rad specialist shop here in town (lots of good comments on them from anyone I've asked), radiator cost $287, $100 for install (about $400 USD total). Ford wanted $650 for the rad + install, Canadian Tire wanted $475, so these guys are the cheapest.

Dropped it off this morning after it dumped 3 cups of coolant on the ground when I started it this morning, it'll be done by this afternoon.

For the original radiator, it did last 10 years and 181,000 km (~115,000 miles), which isn't bad at all. There was quite a bit of junk in the fins as well when I bought it, so I'm surprised it didn't leak any sooner than it did. All in all, I'm glad it's a straight forward issue that I could see, I hate relying on shops to "tell me" what's wrong.

 

[BrooklynBay]

WWW.AutoCoolRadiators.Com has the lowest price on the radiator with free shipping, and a lifetime warranty. I did a review on them in the product review section: http://www.explorerforum.com/reviewpost/showproduct.php/product/252/limit/recent