Toyota - Camry :: 1997 - Cracked Seam At The Top Of The Radiator Causing A Small Leak
Dec 2, 2013
I have 170,000 miles on this car. This is a 4 cylinder. The seam at the top of the radiator has cracked, causing a small leak. I have confirmed it is not leaking from the cap if you are curious. So it's time to replace the radiator. My question is: is the radiator easy to replace? I have worked on my car before with basic maintenance (oil, transmission, etc) I was thinking it would be straightforward to replace the radiator myself.
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So about 2 yes ago I had a cracked intake manifold and had it replaced..shortly after had low egr flow codes that had me replace every sensor involved on top and three that ford found for me. And fixed...my 01 f150 5.4 super crew has been my best friend last 165k of its 246. So it has a small leak in radiator. Didn't think that would do anything for a bit. Well after almost overheating a few times I pulled up to a job and water was pouring out the top back passenger side....blah blah blah saving 1400 this time I pulled everything to the head. Took off intake put back together torqued to 20lbs.
Still mix fires at low idle and low rpms.gets worse longer I sit at light have redone plugs switched coil pack at the misfire location..still missing. the round black sensor before the egr out of the intake has good vac in but limited to egr. Don't think this is right...has lean codes both banks....but I also had a PVC not in and the exhaust outflow sensor had a hose knocked off again...misfiring...checking hoses nothing obvious... Perhaps the spare coil is no good now....keep one two handy for wet locations... Did I not do intake right...and I did use rtv
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After 150,000 miles, the radiator has developed a small leak. Question- do I have to remove the fan or can I just unbolt the shroud and push it back to slide the radiator out? I don't have that special wrench to spin off the clutch fan. 1997 Explorer 4.0 ....
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I have a 2002 F150 which has a small leak somewhere in the radiator system. I am looking to see if recommended using one of the Bar Leaks products for fixing cooling system leaks. I guess it is an aluminum based product the adheres to the inner services of the cooling system and can stop leaks.
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My Toyota Camry (2000) has recently developed a small leak on the front passenger side of the car. The water seems to be coming in from the bottom of the front door about two inches from the door hinges since I can clearly see a water stain there. My mechanic has tried to locate the leak and he seems to think that it may be the windshield. He claims that he hosed it down and he thinks it is the windshield. To repair it he suggested that I will have to re install the windshield. How can I be sure of this?
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I have a 1996 Toyota Camry it has a small leak-from the "Rear Main Seal" Very expensive to repair $800 I cant afford that at this time. My question is: can this product be tried as as temporary fix or if it works? Would it damage other car parts? " Blue Devil Rear Main Seal Stop Leak and Conditioner.
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We suspect that we do indeed have a small leak in the radiator. If we keep the fluid to the full mark, can we drive it without concern. We do realize that is will have to be replace but we are hoping to drive it for a while longer.
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I have a 2000 Nissan Maxima with 177K. I'm planning on getting a new car in a few months. The radiator has a small leak at the top. Is a product such as Barr's stop leak a viable solution to get me through a few months or will it cause problems?
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The problem is my new-to-me 97 Ford F150 5.4L SOHC engine, auto transmission, is overheating after driving it for a short while. Seems to be fine at idle. I have read previous posts with the exact same issue, but the consistency seems to be all over the map from burping the system, head gasket, thermostat, and possibly a plugged radiator.
Backstory:200,000+ miles.
Truck sat for 6 months after previous owner broke the shift cable.
Truck was in a front end collision. Frame looks bent underneath the engine.
Previous owner had overheating problem. He said he changed the heater core. Looks like brand new coolant in the system so story probably checks out. Desperately needs an oil change. Very black oil.
Previous owner thought the system needed a burping. So I'm largely assuming the problem started after the heater core change, or he misdiagnosed an overheating problem and thought the heater core could cause it. I have found a radiator cap and thermostat in the truck which seems to indicate he tried many things to fix the overheating and was unsuccessful. Engine looks pretty clean for the miles.
Symptoms/Backyard Tests :
Blows cold air with heat on highest level and on defrost.
Blender door fuse intact.
Doesn't overheat at idle.
Ran the truck for 15 mins with the coolant bottle fill cap off on level ground to try to burp it after draining some coolant and checking the thermostat orientation. Coolant level increased in the bottle. Large air bubbles came out. (Another session before this one, I ran it for 30 minutes with no coolant cap, and eventually coolant overflowed the fill bottle. Normal or no?)
Seems to overheat after the thermostat opens. After doing the 15 minute warm up/burp, I took it for a test drive. I drove it about 20 blocks with the temperature gauge on the dash reading the same as the warmed-up idle temperature. Got to the 20th block and the gauge immediately spiked to overheat with the oil pressure dash light coming on. I could be mistaken as the oil pressure light almost looks exactly like the overheat dash light. But I'm pretty sure the temperature icon was on the right side of the oil can icon and not the left.
After the above drive: Upper rad hose too hot to touch.
After the above drive: Lower rad hose medium warm. Could hold on to it if I felt like it.
After the above drive: Upper part of rad pretty hot. Not Insta-burn but hot. Tempature decreases to warm to cool as you go lower down the rad.
After the above drive: Both heater core hoses going to the cab luke warm.
Coolant looks brand new.
Radiator looks slightly bowed. Probably from the accident? Otherwise looks clean and minimal bent fins.
Drained some coolant and pulled the upper rad hose to see if the thermostat was upside down. Looks installed correctly.
No signs of weep hole leaks from the water pump.
Fan seems solid. Has maybe 1-2mm of play in the bearings.
Something that looked like steam from the muffler at startup, that disappeared after getting closer to a normal range warm engine.
I have driven crap cars for many years and I've never seen a plugged radiator which makes me skeptical of it being that. All the radiators I have changed were because they were eventually leaking from cracks in the radiator.
I would also be interested in doing an informal poll if you have read this far and have had this era of F150 that overheated. Have you ever repaired the head gasket? And/or have you ever changed the radiator?
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I smelled antifreeze when walking by my fiances Sonata, so I popped the hood and saw there was a small leak from the upper radiator hose, where it meets the thermostat housing. I adjusted the stock clamp, but the leak was much worse.
I swapped it out for new clamp that you can tighten, and all is well again. But, what I noticed when I had it off was that the metal neck of the housing was really corroded. Only 15,000 on the car, so I was surprised to see that the corrosion on the metal had already built up causing the leak (pushing the hose away from the housing). I scraped and scuffed to get it clean again, but just wanted to give you all the heads up in case you notice a leak in the same area. The antifreeze tested good and is really clean.
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I had my LS at the dealer this morning getting the fuel regulator recall and they noticed that my radiator had a very small leak at the nipple where the overflow hose is connected. From what I've read, this is a very common issue that I probably caused by leaning on the fitting at some point while working on the car.
I'm no stranger to DIY and am willing to take this on. I'm looking at replacements online and I see two brass fittings at the bottom. Are those for transmission cooler lines? If so, wouldn't replacing the radiator cause the loss of some transmission fluid?
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I have a 04' RX 330 with 92k. It has small radiator leak. If you are standing in front of the car and look below the fan on the left side of the radiator you can see a small amount of red fluid that has leaked out of the radiator. However, the leak isn't big enough that I ever have to add coolant I just top it off when I get the oil changed. Also it doesn't puddle on the pavement when parked.
The only thing I really notice is that my windows tend fog abit easier now so I assuming the moisture must be making its way into the ventalation somehow. My mechanic said its about a $700 repair. My question should I fix it and is $700 reasonable. Also I've never had the timing belt replaced would it make since do have this done at the same time as the radiator. How long will it take before it becomes a major problem instead of a minor annoyance?
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Had a small leak on show up in my transmission cooler line at the radiator connection. After replacing the o-ring, which was pinched, I had lost some fluid up to about 3-4 oz. I had stopped by the local VW dealer and picked up a liter of ATF fluid and noticed the colors of the fluid differed from what drained out from the cooler line. Fluid that drained out was a cloudy darker green/grey and the new ATF fluid had a clear yellowish tint. Is this vehicle equipped with a closed loop cooling system or does it use the actual ATF fluid as the cooling medium?
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I have approximately 66,000 miles on my 2013 F250 truck and noticed a small drip from the front drivers side around 40,000 miles. That random drip is now a leak and the truck will be going into the shop to replace the Primary Radiator.
I absolutely love this truck, but what a disappointment that this isn't a recall. What scares me is that my buddy who has a 2014 F250 will be going in for his second primary radiator in 3 years of ownership.
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The truck has 64k miles and has developed a small leak on the engine side of the radiator with no apparent damage. There is no variation on the pressure test and the dealer was able to find the very small leak with dye in the system. It has lowered by about 3/4 of a gallon of coolant over the last couple of months. There are no visible signs of a leak but you smell the coolant when you stop the truck.
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Read that this is a common issue, leaking out crimped seam on lower LH (2012 F250 King Ranch). I have called Ford customer service twice, they said "we do not have any recall or programs to cover the out of warranty repair". I keep adding coolant and thinking eventually Ford will address this problem. They did cover my bad EGT sensor....
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I have a 1997 Toyota Camry thats leaking oil profusely. Within a week of topping oil, the oil leak light turns on. The mechanic says that leak is somewhere near the engine and he needs to tear it apart to see whats up. Estimates run upto $ 800. I am trying to extract life from the car. Is Lucas stop leak advisable?
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This is strange, Had the truck for about 3000mi bought it at 147k now has 150... Any way it runs great but the radiator started leaking from the seam close to where the bottom hose is. I have since changed the radiator about a week ago 500mi a week work truck.
Now it seems to be leaking from the very same area, what I mean is the area around the hose is dry but just up the seam a bit it barely leaks, and mainly after the truck cools off at night. These radiators seem extremely low quality, is there a substitute higher quality.
Also of note mine is the 1" core, I was told there are others but they will not fit, I must agree it seems nothing else would fit due to space constraints. These radiators just kinda sit in a cradle and aren't really under any stress that I can tell so it doesn't seem as though that would be the cause.
Also of note the shop where I bought the new one took it out of the sealed box and tank pressure tested it as they do for all new sales, no leaks, I have not pulled it back out yet cause I would like to get some thing less flimsy if it exists.
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Just did a tear out and rebuild, installed motor, filled with water. Water is leaking out of the back of the engine somewhere. Leaking as if it were coming out of a 1/4" diameter hole. 1997 V4.6L F150. I guess I have to pull it no matter what. Cracked block? Freeze plugs were all new and installed by machine shop. Initial reason for pulling was water in cylinders and I assumed blow head gasket.
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My dad has a 97 Dodge Neon 4 cylinder. The car has been leaking oil, and on Sat the leak grew and was real bad. He took it to the only shop he could find open who put it up on the lift and said the leak was coming from the front of the engine. On monday they did the work ($286) and told my dad it was a seal on the front of the engine behind the flywheel. My dad is old and doesn't hear well and the mechanics english was not real strong and his writing on the recepit is not real clear. As I am worried my dad might have gotten taken, is there a replaceable seal on the front of the engine that could go and cause a leak? They showed my dad the leak as the car was on the lift and running as that was only when the leak occured. I am concerned my dad was taken. He says he drove it around and such and didn't see any leaking when he picked it up and left it running in his drivway for a while upon getting home and no leak. Just wondering?
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Recently bought a 2001. In the process of reading about this engine I discovered there is a some what regular breakdown of head gaskets causing water to leak into cylinders and oil pan, all of which is serious.
Given the vehicle is 12 years old and has 89K miles it appears it is in the age and range of where this leakage can occur. Any knowledgeable engine rebuilders that are familiar with this issue on the 4.2 have any comments???
1. Can this issue be avoided by replacing head gaskets now rather than waiting for future failure???
2. Are there new and improved head gaskets for this motor???
3. Does the problem occur on both heads gaskets?
4. Is that all that needs to be done or are there other seals that need replacement???
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