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Old 11-14-2013, 07:35 PM
 
Location: Alabama
13,365 posts, read 7,666,489 times
Reputation: 6935

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Hey everyone. I just got my radiator flushed at the shop yesterday and they replaced the thermostat as well. Drove to work this morning, temperature was good, no problems.

When I go back to my truck, I notice a fairly large puddle of coolant underneath, but no active leak.

I drive home, still no problems, temperature reading fine.

When I park at the house and shut the engine off, coolant starts dripping out, creating another large puddle, but then it stops leaking.

Why would it leak only when I shut the engine off and then stop leaking when it cools off?

Wouldn't they be able to tell if there was a leak somewhere while they were doing the flush? I know several years ago I went to get a flush, and they wouldn't do it because the radiator had a leak, so I had to replace the radiator. Should I bring it back in?

When I got home I tried to look underneath to see where the leak was coming from, but it was already dark and I couldn't see much even with a flashlight.
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Old 11-14-2013, 07:50 PM
 
1,420 posts, read 3,168,091 times
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I wonder if it was overfilled and that is the extra fluid being purged.

Key an eye on the levels, carry a gallon or two 50/50 mix of antifreeze/distilled water with you. The problem may just go away when the right level is reached. Otherwise if you sense overheating, you'll have the antifreeze with you and you can notify the radiator service providers.
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Old 11-14-2013, 08:03 PM
 
15,440 posts, read 21,218,755 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FSUMike View Post
Hey everyone. I just got my radiator flushed at the shop yesterday and they replaced the thermostat as well. Drove to work this morning, temperature was good, no problems.
I see this quite often in my older tractors. Sometimes the only thing keeping an old radiator from leaking is the buildup of sludge. If it's a new radiator I would talk to the shop who flushed it. Someone may have accidentally poked a hole in it. More likely though, they just overfilled the radiator.

The reason for leaking after you shut down is that heat and pressure build up in a radiator right after you turn a warm motor off. If it's not a system leak, it will be coming out the overflow pipe.
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Old 11-14-2013, 08:13 PM
 
Location: Poway, CA
2,698 posts, read 12,111,912 times
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Flushes are a double-edged sword because they're good for system health but can also cause leaks. Well, 'cause' isn't the right word IMHO. I'd say it exposes weak points in your system that would otherwise fail on you at some inopportune time in the future.

As to why it only leaks hot, that's when the system is under pressure. You may have a pinhole leak somewhere that doesn't show up until it sees pressure. I just had a leak on my bike's radiator that acted like this. No drips until it got warm.

If it's a sizable puddle, you should be able to find the wet spots under the hood and trace it back to where it's coming from. If it's coming out the overflow tube, then yeah, they probably overfilled. Otherwise, it's a leak.

Mike
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Old 11-14-2013, 08:50 PM
 
Location: Alabama
13,365 posts, read 7,666,489 times
Reputation: 6935
Thanks everyone, it's definitely not coming from the overflow reservoir. That's the first thing I checked. The radiator is roughly 4 years old, but neglectful me have not had it flushed until yesterday. I might just pick up some coolant in the morning before work and then call the shop and see what they say.

It seems like they would have noticed the coolant dripping out after they ran it and shut the engine off.
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