This morning I drove to church, I backed into a space and the truck was in a slight left hand down slope towards the front of the truck. I got out and noticed a coolant leak. It did not leak a lot but when I checked the overflow bottle it was close to empty. I looked to try and see where it was coming from but could not figure out the exact spot. (it was dripping from the radiator area on the driver side) I went buy the local auto parts store and bought some coolant and refilled it. I have tried to recreate the same conditions, but have not had any more coolant leak. Anyone had this same bizarre problem?

 

I had a leak in the same area and it turned out to be the tank seal to the core. Very hard to see because of the shroud but I could smell the leak for months and I seemed to have to top up the OF bottle once a month.

 

I'm not familiar at all with 1st Gens, but a water pump can be a tricky one to figure out because the air from the fan/belt throws the coolant other places.

Again, disregard me if I am talking stupid here, that is just what my last coolant leak turned out to be.

 

How'd you fix it? Why isn't mine leaking all the time?

 

Unfortunately I had to buy a new rad. I picked up a new one off ebay and so far so good.

 

Well that doesn't sound so bad. I thought it was going to be like a 5 billion dollar job. I appreciate it. I'll look at it tomorrow and see if it is the same problem.

Any reason it doesn't leak ALL the time?

 

Could be just as simple as higher and lower pressures from temps and load.
Mine seemed to leak more when it never reached operating temp (short trips) but as time went by it showed regularly

 

That makes sense. It was a short trip this morning when it did it. I'll check it out in the morning. I love this truck anyway. I'd rather have it than my previous truck that cost an arm and a leg to fix.

 

Mine had a similar problem that lasted for a couple of years. Every once in a while I would see a small amount of antifreeze on the ground but could never find the leak, then a couple of winters ago during a cold snap it got worse. Turned out to be a crack in the radiator near the "fingers" that clamp the core to the header tank on the drivers side. Had to replace the radiator.

 

I'm just glad that it isn't like a huge dollar fix. I can put the new radiator in myself so that will help some. I still have to get gauges so money is important.

 

My ghost leak lasted for a year or so. It would only show up if I idled it at a certain angle. Rarely had to top off until this Fall when the crack (drivers side on the seam) finally gave way and led to radiator replacement

 

Well I bought a new radiator today. Cost me 339.00. I am going to wait till I get back to work and put it on myself, as well as put in the dowl pin I was missing. Once that is done I hope to be good to go. I added some auto-rx to the engine oil today to run a cycle of it. I'll let you all know how it works in another thread.

 

I'm running into the same thing... Has anyone tried to do a aluminum radiator upgrade such as desert cool? or something similar? I would rather spend a little more now with something that will cool better and last longer? Thanks, Artie

 

I tossed the idea around for a while and decided just to spend $200 for a replacement now, and hope I get 4-5 years out of it? We will see

 

Mine didn't let go until 200k miles and never has run hot. I had a Jeep Cherokee for many miles and upgraded that radiator because stock was marginal for running at low speeds off road. I think replacing with the same setup (plastic tanks on the end) is the best way to go for me on my Dodge diesel