Weird coolant leak (1 Viewer)

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Aug 21, 2021
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Boston, MA
I’m still working through baselining my 80, but today I noticed a leak by the battery box. All the hoses look good. I was hoping it might be power steering but I don’t think I’m that lucky.

I just swap out the radiator cap to the a new one from Wits End. I start the truck up and I noticed a sizable puddle under the truck. I check the coolant levels and everything looked good. I drove around for 30 mins and my temp was about 189 with it being 30ish outside.

Based on the location it seems like it might be the actual radiator itself. Any thoughts?

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It is probably at the connection of the radiator to the upper plastict tank or the tank is starting to crack. The new radiator cap might have had a better seal and increased the pressure enough to expose the leak or it may be incidental. Either way a new radiator is in you future I would guess.
 
That looks like a fairly new radiator from the VERY close up picture you posted. Couple of things I've noted over the years chasing leaks, it is hard to get a good seal with the cheap aftermarket hose clamps and they spray all kinds of crazy places making the place of origin difficult. Also the fan blows stuff all over the place. issue i've noticed is that radiators that have the plastic tanks often fail after you've been doing other work and leaning on them. Wash it really good, dry it off and do some more driving to see where it is coming from.
 
That looks like a fairly new radiator from the VERY close up picture you posted. Couple of things I've noted over the years chasing leaks, it is hard to get a good seal with the cheap aftermarket hose clamps and they spray all kinds of crazy places making the place of origin difficult. Also the fan blows stuff all over the place. issue i've noticed is that radiators that have the plastic tanks often fail after you've been doing other work and leaning on them. Wash it really good, dry it off and do some more driving to see where it is coming from.
Interesting note. I chanced the PCV and I probably leaned on it pretty good.
 
Well I broke mine after changing the water pump... then used an after market hose clamp on the top that sprayed from underneath after bouncing off the top of the new radiator and getting blown all over. took me for ever to figure out i just needed to tighten the top clamp a good bit. Turns out the toyota spring clamps are less work to deal with.
 

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