WaynesRS

My radiator has been leaking , only when the engine sits for awhile after its been turned off , it leaks a freakin river . I can drive the car home from school , park under my carport , go check it an hour later and its ok , but the next morning when I wake up there is a river under my carport !!! .What is causing this ? Thanx guys ? OH and the fluid in the HOT/COLD bottle is at the cold mark where it should be !

One more thing , it is leaking near the drain hole on the passengers side .It's not leaking from the hole , but by it .

BitchinRS

Sounds like you are starting to leak at the seam. Same thing happened to me last week. In the peroid of 4 days I ended up replacing it because the seam finally gave way.

WaynesRS

$hit ! This isn't good !!! I just got through paying for my tranny ! $1300 ...Thanx for the help bitchen .

86bird_28v6_5spd_ramair

back yard fix

pour a big can of black pepper in there and get by for a while.

works better than the other stuff they sell.:lala:

Project: 85 2.8 bird

you need to find someone like me who works @ AZ & can get 20% off the $115 price for the radiator

WaynesRS

Dood ! I wish you were down here !!!

My Uncle swears I run the **** out of that car , I really dont ! Maybe I shouldn't do 85 and 90 on the interstate huh ? :sillylol:

TomP

Ah, that's nuthin', the car probably wasn't maintained well before you got it! If it is a seam leak, it might just be because of a dired up seal. I tried replacing a side tank once (cracked it in my accident), I bought the seal, removed the old tank, put the new one on, bent all the tabs just like the GM book said- and the thing leaked like crazy. So I crimped the tabs harder- it slowed down but didn't stop. So I just went to the junkyard for a $50 radiator, and lucked out- the thing looked brand new.

One thing tho; how's the radiator hoses? I helped my girlfriend's dad change a radiator in her old Camaro (2.8), and the leak was still there. Turned out the upper hose had a pinhole leak, and water would spritz out onto the side tank, and looked like a leak there.

What you can do, is throw some baby powder all over the place. Your car will smell great, and any coolant leak will make a "run" in the powder, and you can trace a leak that way.

Joe_L

All the things that are wrong with a car, and mine has them all I think.

The rad, Mine has a crack in the plastic on the Passenger side, its about 1/2 inches long. As long as you don't let the car cool down it will keep water in, shut if off and rivers flow. I have this problem too. See it is constanly circulating while driving and then when it cools down the pressure inside the engines is being released which normally sends it back into the resivor. But now the coolent has a new exit route so much of it will leave through the crack in the rad.

I am going to get a new rad when I get back to work...did I say new I meant new to me. I would not out any stop leak garbage in, all it does is plug up the heater core.

Go to a Junk-yard, get one for $50, it takes about an hour to pull out and put back in (as long as Automatic tranny lines are not seized). Nothing too bad. Just make sure you get the Auto rad.

WaynesRS

This is ganna surprise you Tom , heh . The radiator is only about 2 years old .I have every single receipt to my car except that one ! Im so pissed I cant find it !!! lol Thats why I want to get a damn good one , like a Griffin or something like that . I posted some more in the General Tech section , if ya wanna read . I've taken good care of it to , its been flushed three times sence Ive had it , but the fins on the front are pretty bent up from some things hitting it on the interstate which I could not avoid

TomP

The fins on the front... did you remove your air conditioning? 'Cause the a/c condensor is in front of the radiator, and from the bottom of the car, it looks like a radiator. Check those hoses out first before you go spending more $$... and yeah, I saw that message; the Griffin's are a nice unit- just make sure if you've got an automatic trans, you buy the one with the auto trans cooler in the passenger side tank- or otherwise, buy an external cooler.

Camar_Hunter_c

could it be leaking from the pressure relief hose? Maybe thats clogged and it forcing the pressure relief elsewhere. Take that small hose off and try to blow through it. It might be that simple a fix.... Coolant can do funky things sometimes...

WaynesRS

hmm , But a leaky Condensor , or clogged pressure relief hose would not make the coolant lower in the radiator would it ? Plus this was leaking before I started running my ac ....I had a bad heater hose I had to change so I have not been running the ac up until a few days ago because it was not blowing cold air anyway . I've been adding quit a bit cooland and water to my radiator lately .

TomP

If you get the Griffin, let us know how it works out! As a plus, you'll get to put on a Wonderbar since that f'ing lower hose won't be in the way anymore!

WaynesRS

Tom , Im making sure its not my condensor , or a hose going to the condensor to the radiator ? Aren't they attached ? I know the coolant gets low in the radiator and I have to put coolant in it .What do ya think man ?

TomP

Actually; the condensor only holds freon.. the only way the two are attached is by the air that flows thru the both of 'em. When I removed my condensor (no a/c anymore), my driving temps actually dropped a few degrees due to the increased airflow over the radiator. Did you rub any baby powder on the rad hoses yet?

Camar_Hunter_c

t If he pressure relief hose that goes to the "coolant" bottle clogged the excess pressure could not bleed to the bottle so it would be forced to find another way out. If the hose is clogged, or if the clamp on it is loose it will leak. Its only a 2 minute check, worth doing.

Does the bottle get any lower or just the radiator? That will tell you that you have a leak. If the system is sealed it will take coolant from that bottle to fill the radiator, or when the coolant warms up the excess will drain into the bottle.

WaynesRS

The hoses are fine , I dont know If I ever mentioned this or not , but I can see where its leaking from . But I could not tell EXACTLY if it was from the radiator or condensor . Now that I know that the condenser does not have coolant in it , I can't count that out .Something else I was just thinking about , it leaked twice there before , I put stop leak in it and it stopped it , well these other times it was not a bad leak , but this time , I think it has just gotten worse and the stop leak did not work this time . I think it has just gotten to bad to fix .I still wonder if that hose is clogged though , Im ganna go check it .Thanx guys !

WaynesRS

Update , I just checked to see if my pressure relief hose was clogged , I took it off and blew threw it . and it wasnt . I found another radiator today at the www.radiatorbarn.com for $140 with a LIFETIME warranty .What would be the benefits of the Griffen besides being able to install a wonder bar Tom ? Thanx !Would a wonder bar lower my 1/4s any ?

TomP

Okay, as long as you're sure the leak's there. Like I said above, the guy's hose had a pinhole leak that was shooting coolant onto the side tank. With the new radiator, he still had a "leaking radiator" until he found that pinhole.

I don't know if there'd be any positives; you could always get a radiator for a 3.1 car, which I believe has the same rad hose routing as the griffin unit. Look at some of the engine pics here, see which cars have the upper hose coming off the driver's side's side tank.

BitchinRS

TomP,

The 3.1L does have the top hose comming off the drivers side and the bottom hose comming off the pasanger side. I just replaced my rad about a week and a helf ago.

WaynesRS

Im glad you told me that again Tom about the guy's hose shooting coolant onto the side tank .Im ganna put baby powder on that hose .I was just thinking it would drip straight down . But I guess if the hole is at the right angle it would shoot like that .But whats wierd , is I can drive to school , which is an hour away , after I park , I get out and look , there is not a drop of coolant on the ground (after sitting in my car for about 5 mins or so .But later in the afternoon when I leave , its leaked . It seems like its leaking when the engine almost completely cools down .That's just wierd what's making it leak like that ? I even went to taco hell today , after I got back , like an hour later I went outside and was looking at it , and it was not leaking .

TomP

Thanks for the info, BitchinRS!

Let us know how it goes, Wayne... odd that you'd go thru so many radiators so fast!

WaynesRS

Well , the last one , the neck that holds the hose on it broke off , and I was not close to home and had to get it fixed at a Texaco station .The price came out REAL cheap , I dont remember what it was , but I think they put a cheap radiator in it , possibly the cheapest they can find .

KED85

To remove a F car rad. from a car in the yard.
NEED
Hack SAW
10mm wrench

Hack saw all-
Lines
HOSES
Undo top hold down piece (4-10mm bolts)
It slides right out.
Takes two minutes if that long to remove.
I got my latest one from Pick Your Part for $30.
Looked and is "new"
Wayne, look for RUST STAINS the inside engine bay area for clues where it leaks.
NO NEED FOR A GRIFFITH
Spend $140?
Plus shipping?
Spend the saved money on a date

WaynesRS

I was thinking the EXACT same thing you were when I went to bed lastnight but was real iffy about it . Looks like im ganna be hitting the boneyard today . Thanx Karl !

KED85

Wayne, here's exactly what I did.
FIRST!!!!
I found out EXACTLY what type of radiator I needed (mine was a cheap chinese brass wrongo radiator, but came with car....)
I went on a rainy Friday afternoon.
Zero people there.
I found V-8 & V-6 cars.
I looked at every example I could fine (literally 15 or so, remember V-8 cars ARE BETTER-larger radiator & IT FITS SO PERFECT!!)
I looked at engine bays for water rust signs (why pull an instantly dirty radiator?) and NEW waterpumps (lots of cars get new cooling system parts as last resort.....), new-ish hoses, too...
I just hack sawed thru tranny lines (they were hard, as they flex easy!) and hoses. Bottom hose is FUN, as that contains a wire inside for making sure bottom hose doesn't collaspe.
WHEN YA CUT, KEEP STRAIN OFF THE PLASTIC INLETS OF THE RAD
Lifted that metal plate, out it slid!!
I left my "good" choices aside, onto next car (remember no one else there in the rain!).
I eventualy had 10....down to 5....down to ONE!
I LOOKED inside for RUST & DIRTY WATER SIGNS & I LOOKED at the SIDE TANKS FOR ANY CRACKS & WATER STAINS.
LOOK FOR NEW RAD CAPS, TOO! for signs of a good rad.
Look at the place (radiator core support) for any dirty water signs, too!
Make sure you collect the rubber pieces (vibration rubber stuff!) at the bottom for the radiator.
USE BRAKE LINE WRENCHES FOR INSTALLING YOUR TRANNY LINES in your new radiator.
You should be fine.
The yards may have a "warranty".
Buy it if you do not trust your instincts-judgement that you got a good raditor from the yard.
These correct working factory radiators are perfect for our rides. (especially the V-8 upgrade choice!!)
I mean we are NOT pushing a LS-5 in a 1971 Corvette with automatic and air conditioning options on a hot Southern, humid day.
Making that Southern Belle, a little "HOT" in the passenger seat

TomP

Yeah, ignore those dirty radiators. The radiator in my parts car literally had mud in it... it might've been coolant, but the way it oozed out of the drain, and sloshed around in the drain pan, looked like mud. Poor car. I think the guy took it off roading, because the whole engine bay was covered in a ton of sandy dust. I lucked out when I wrecked my car, I paid $50 for a radiator, as the guy handed it over, he said "Hey, you're getting a good deal, this looks brand new!" And it did! It was thicker than my old one, and had a white "part #" type sticker with "TCI" and a part # on it, on the top of the radiator.. the piece that gets covered by the upper fan support.

I don't know if it was TCI (trans place) or TCI (customs place, Total Cost Involved), or just the name of the wholesale place that was stocking it... never bothered to look further into it.

KED85

IF your fan shourd breaks while installing the rad, just use zip ties to hold together.
Mines been like that for close to three years, now.

WaynesRS

I just got one !!! . I REALLY got lucky guys . I went to the boneyard about 7 miles from my house where I know the people , they had no radiators they said , they told me I can check to make sure , and they didnt . Then I went across the river (Miss River ) . A pretty nice size yard .I started looking . I looked at about 4 cars , no radiator . Then I found a firebird .JUST LIKE KARL'S . SAME EXACT COLOR ! I looked at it , looked good , then I looked for rust .It only has a little rust around the tranny line which can be sanded off , its not deep rust at all . I opened the cap and looked in with a flash light , WOW ! Its in WAY better shape than mine is when I checked it out yesterday ! It looks REAL good to say it came out of the boneyard . I paid $50 for it .Tom did you get yours at the same yard I got mine from ? Tried to find me a few interior parts , but they're pretty much all trashed out ! Also I was really surprised that it only took me about 10 min to pull !

KED85

Wayne, you took to long working on my car!
10 minutes?
Use oil on the hoses as you slip them onto the "new" rad.
TRIPLE CHECK THAT BOTTOM HOSE!!
That's the one that came off on me & I lost my engine!
I think of it this way,
If that hadn't happened, you guys wouldn't know how easy & cheap it is to swap in a 3.4 in place of this 2.8/3.1!
So cheap I'm starting on my S-10 Blazer swap in a few more days.

WaynesRS

LoL . I forgot my hack saw ! So I had to use my tools . Its in the car , the new rad though . I just have to flush it , dark caught me and the mosquitoes starting biting so I came in .......Dad ask me , "so where did you go ?" I say "KANNONS " ....He says really????? We could be millionaires right now ...He said my grandfather knew the man that opened that boneyard and he wanted him to go into the business with him but he didnt because he didnt wanna gable with his money at the time . , he also opened 2 others not far from it . Dad said he made a killing off of them and it made him a millionare .But your grandpa didn't wanna gable with his money , so he didnt go in business with him . Thanx for telling me to check that hose ! I'll do it tomorrow !