fullsmoke

For awhile now, I've noticed coolant level getting low in the reservoir. Whenever I drive around, I notice fresh coolant from these areas in my front air dam (see wet areas in pics). It looks as if the top of the radiator is leaking and dripping down those areas. I can't tell much from below or above--I'll have to take off the bumper but has anyone had experience with this before or know what's leaking?

Thanks,
FS

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Could be anything, need to pressure test the system. Might not be a leak, the car might be overheating and boiling the coolant out of the overflow.

sonicsdaman

iTrader: (3)

If its the oem radiator, I'll bet the plastic nipples have broken

you can gain access to the rad if you take the bottom splash guard off
or from the top, just take out the air box and battery tray



edit, listen to 9k and test it

fullsmoke

When looking from below, it looks like there is coolant coming from the top of the actual radiator, which is still OEM and original from 2004. I've heard of those nipples breaking--where exactly are they located on the radiator?

FS

sonicsdaman

iTrader: (3)

looking at the car they are left(passenger) side right behind the reserve tank, two on top of the rad and one on the bottom
PS the graph I posted shows their locations...

Reoze

Be careful with them, they break very easily. Yours might be perfectly fine.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

Pulled the original OE radiator off my '05 6-spd recently and pull hard on the nipple to test it and no problem. Not sure why some people have issues unless it's an inconsistent manufacturing issue or how it was used

Nothing wrong with it, I just changed to the S2 radiator for my new fan setup

Reoze

I was fully aware of the "issue" when I was replacing my coolant bottle. Yet somehow I looked at it the wrong way and it just popped right off.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

Maybe put some rubber or silicone grease on the replacement so that removing the hose is not so difficult

NotAPreppie

I think it may be a combination of luck and technique. Too much (any?) lateral or radial force combined with not taking steps to gently loosen the hose first.

Regardless, OP need to rent a pressure tester from Autozone or Advance Auto Parts and search for the leak.

fullsmoke

Is it easy to rent and DIY test at home? Thanks for all the suggestions.

FS

NotAPreppie

If you're vaguely handy, sure.

When I tested my cooling system, I went to Advance Auto Parts and asked if they had a cooling system pressure tester for rent. They did, put ~$280 charge on my card and refunded it when I returned the tool.

Do not do this with a warm engine. You could spray boiling coolant all over yourself by opening the coolant system while it is hot and pressurized.

The kit is basically a small hand pump with a large number of different heads to attach to the coolant overflow tank. Picking the correct one is crucial but not hard. Attach it, pump it up to 13-ish psi and then watch the pressure gauge. If it drops noticeably in a few minutes, you've got a leak somewhere. Verify that the head you picked is the correct one and that it's attached correctly.

If the pressure gauge doesn't drop noticeably, let it sit for a an hour or three. It's possible that the leak is very small.

The tool should also have an attachment to test your radiator cap. Might as well do this, too.

Reoze

I made the mistake of disconnecting that hose last, instead of first. I moved the coolant bottle about and inch and a half to get some better clearance and that's all it took. The nipple itself was completely "rotted" (Not sure if that's the correct term, it was dark brown) away and broken into pieces inside of the end of the hose.

Just had a similar issue with the elbow on the intake for the oil filler neck. Nudged it while installing my mazdaspeed strut bar and the whole thing tore off. The plastic elbow was definitely compromised in this case too. Just glad it happened when I was watching instead of finding out a couple weeks later.