Newb question about coolant leak

[tom.saywer]

First I apologize if im in the wrong spot.

That being said...it was about -8 this morning and after driving for roughly 20 miles I stopped at a store and came out, I noticed antifreeze dripping from under the truck. So I continued my drive to work, about another 2 miles parked and checked if it was still leaking and it wasnt. I just went back out to check and its still leak free and the radiator is full. Could it have been a combo of extreme cold/heating/expanding.


I just hit 200k on monday and the only thing that has ever been replaced is the radiator, about 18 months ago.

 

[Four0Sport]

could have been that the thermostat was stuck shut from the cold temps and pressure built up and pushed a bit of the coolant out? or maybe the hoses are older, contracted with the weather and allowed coolant to leak out? its gonna take some searching, but deffinetly keep an eye on it.

 

[tom.saywer]

The resivoir was almost empty so I refilled that.

Hopefully the thremostat was stuck I had the heat on high in the front and rear

 

[Four0Sport]

watch the temp guage and see if there is any difference in time it takes to get the vehicle to running temp. if this problem persists you might want to replace the t-stat, especially if it is the OE with 200K+ miles on it.

 

[dynamite196]

it's very possible that one of the hoses shrunk just enough to let coolant drip out but once the truck fully warmed up it sealed itself again. How old are the hoses? If you didn't replace them when you did the radiator (or ever ) then it wouldn't hurt to replace them for peace of mind. Nothing worse than a hose blowing out on one of those sub zero days is there?

that being said, most people don't realize how fragile vehicles become in the extreme cold. it's very important to allow the car to warm up and drive gently in order to minimize the added stress of driving in extreme temperatures. last year my sister managed to overheat my trusty sport on a sub zero day because she didn't take the time to fully warm it up.

 

[BrooklynBay]

The radiator cap might be bad.

 

[tom.saywer]

it's very possible that one of the hoses shrunk just enough to let coolant drip out but once the truck fully warmed up it sealed itself again. How old are the hoses? If you didn't replace them when you did the radiator (or ever ) then it wouldn't hurt to replace them for peace of mind. Nothing worse than a hose blowing out on one of those sub zero days is there?

that being said, most people don't realize how fragile vehicles become in the extreme cold. it's very important to allow the car to warm up and drive gently in order to minimize the added stress of driving in extreme temperatures. last year my sister managed to overheat my trusty sport on a sub zero day because she didn't take the time to fully warm it up.

Im sure all of the hoses were replaced, I didnt do it personally...I really am pretty incompetent when it comes to vehicles. It was fully warmed up, in my driveway for 30+ minutes

 

[tom.saywer]

The radiator cap might be bad.

The cap and the area around the cap were dry when I took it off to check the coolant level

 

[alohamonte]

replacing the cap and tightening the hose clamps would be a good place to start.

mine had a drip from the heater control valve at about 120k.

 

[BrooklynBay]

The seal in the cap might be bad. It could cause the coolant to keep leaking into the overfill tank.