Leaking rad, possibly bad upper hose

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GreeCguy

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Elderly County, Florida
Howdy and good evening fellow Bitogers:
Went to Sonny's BBQ for a late lunch, early supper today and made the hungry journey through the drive through. While waiting for my order to be filled by the friendly staff inside, I noticed steam coming from beneath the hood on the ever faithful "Bluesmobile," (1993 Ford Taurus GL, 3.0 v-6). I received my order, (a delicious pulled pork sandwich and a side order of yummy cole slaw). My heat gauge was running 3/4 on the hot side, but I figured I could make it home. Once I got out on the road, sure enough, she cooled down and by the time I arrived at the house, she was running in the middle on the temp gauge. Popped the hood and low and behold, the rad is leaking around the upper rad hose. I'm 95 percent sure the rad is leaking and not the hose as I replaced the hose November of last year. However, the hose has an odd "glisten" to it, like it's been sprayed with WD40 or Silicone spray. It also has an oily feel to it.

My question is this, before I tackle the rad, is it possible I have a bad hose, or is the oily substance merely the coolant spraying out on the hose?

Secondly, before I order a new rad, has anyone ever repaired one of these composite rads with something like JB Weld?

Any advice, info, guidance before I tackle this job will be greatly appreciated.

BTW, the sandwich was delicious, (pulled pork on garlic bread) and the slaw was heavenly.
 
...also, if you're having issues with the upper radiator hose and/or radiator on one of those cars, remember to check the front motor mount.
 
Originally Posted By: yonyon
...also, if you're having issues with the upper radiator hose and/or radiator on one of those cars, remember to check the front motor mount.


Haven't checked yet but will do tomorrow - thanks
smile.gif
 
Coolant is definitely slippery ,especially on a painted garage floor.Found that out the hard way.

Loosen the hose look for cracks and clean the fitting well and put on a new clamp ,it may just be needed a re-tightening.Try that for starters.
 
You picked Sonny's BBQ out of all the great BBQ places in FL?
I think that is more of a problem than the leaks.
 
There are several possible things that could be going on with your vehicle.

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Your statement about replacing the hose last year is a good clue to what probably is going on.

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Starting with the simplest and lowest cost, sometimes the clamps will be loose because the rubber below the clamp compresses and also spreads out some. In other words the clamp has not loosened any, but the hose now has an indentation below the clamp. Any time a new hose is put on one of our vehicles I always tighten the clamps a second time about six months later. And those clamps just about always require some tightening.

Four to six months after you put new hoses on, you should check all the clamps, and tighten any loose ones.

BTW, I first found out about this problem when a new hose with a new clamp blew off of the radiator about a year after they were put on. I had not tightened the clamp and with the indentation the clamp was sooooooo loose that the hose blew off.

So for starters, when the cooling system has cooled off and is not pressurized, see if you can tighten each of the clamps. If the clamp by the suspected leak tightens some, you probably have fixed the problem.

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The problem could be a bad fan. However even if the fan is not running, you could have a good fan and a bad relay, or a bad heat sensor.

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A bad idler will cause the serpentine belt to not be tight enough and that will result in the waterpump not turning fast enough because without proper tension the serpentine will slip too much. And of course the water pump itself could be bad, though usually they leak before they loose pumping capacity, but not always. Sometimes the impeller gets damaged and the pump loosed the ability to move enough coolant through the system, but that is not common.

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That vehicle being 20 years old could easily have a clogged: radiator, or engine cooling passageways, or heater core if it does not have heat though a bad heater core will not cause it to overheat, or any combination of these items being clogged. Especially if the system was never flushed, and / or, the antifreeze was never changed. If you do flush it be darn sure that you do not leave the flush in any longer that it says on the label, and be sure to disconnect the bottom radiator hose and flush a lot of water through the engine to get all the flush out.

You want the engine to be cooled off before you run a hose into the cooling system to get the last of the flush out of it. Putting cold water in a hot engine is a good way to damage things, such as cracking intake manifolds.

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You said “My heat gauge was running 3/4 on the hot side” Anything slightly over ½ is some concern, (unless it was because of being low on coolant from the leak), and probably indicates that the cooling system is not working 100 percent. At the least with a 20 year old vehicle I would be expecting the radiator to be clogged. Flushing the engine is kind-of a double edge sword, yes if the engine cooling passageways are somewhat clogged it should be flushed, but every time you flush any engine you are taking a chance of damaging a head gasket, and if that happens you have to either do the head gasket or scrap the engine and or car, if it is not worth doing the head gasket. So even if it is flushed doing exactly what it says to do on the can of flush, there is still a chance of damaging the head gasket. So if you have someone flush it and the head gasket ends up leaking, do not blame them, because sometimes the passageways where the head gasket are get worn and a flush is enough to add the last little bit of wear to a passageway so as to get it to leak.

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Good Luck,
 
Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
You waited until you got home before you bothered to pop open the hood???


Of course, I didn't want to get my hands dirty before I ate that delicious pulled pork sandwich on garlic toast. Plus, I figured it would cool off before I got home. As the Queen said, "Keep Calm and Eat Your Sandwich."
 
Originally Posted By: QuOk
You picked Sonny's BBQ out of all the great BBQ places in FL?
I think that is more of a problem than the leaks.


Sonny's is the only BBQ place we have in these parts - they do a good job and I could drink a gallon of their "Sizzlin' Sweet" sauce.
 
Loosen the radiator hose clamp and twist it around to re-seat it, then tighten it with a socket and ratchet or rotate the spring clamp. It probably compressed some since its a newer hose.

Use a hose or a bucket of water to wash off all the spilled coolant. Then get it up to temp after its clean and dry and use your eyes, nose and hands to find the leak.
 
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