Mister Quickie

I leak fluid, it's random, sometimes I can go days without any leak, other times a 40 mile trip can require a half quart of coolant.
I've seen it drip down from the very bottom of a hose once but it's hard to reproduce and at the time it was late and I didn't have a chance to "trace" it up.
Anyone had to do this?

kevin12973

you can buy a test pump that attaches to the expansion tank filler cap. Pump the cooling system up to 15 lbs and look around. There is a floresent die kit if you cant see coolant like that.

austin944

You want to get a coolant pressure tester, like the one in this vid:

7psi should be plenty of pressure to find a leak. Some auto parts stores loan them out.

Could also be a bad cap. There are adapters that allow you to connect the tester to the cap.

wildcat077

Stant makes a very nice coolant pressure tester/ bleeder,it screws on to our expansion tanks
right out of the box ... you could probbly get one on Ebay or from an auto parts supplier for less than $100.00 dollars.
Very happy with mine !

Cheers
Phil

mytrplseven

Another approach, and cheaper too, is a flourescent dye kit from an autoparts store. It contains dye, magic glasses and a magic flashlight. Add some to the coolant, Drive the car a bit and then get the glasses and flashlight out. You'll see the source of any leaks, Works in the oil pan, power steering and tranny as well.

MB968

I'm pretty sure the normal radiator cap keeps the system at about 15psi pressure. Due to the irregular nature of your leak, you may find that you have to get close to 15psi pressure in the coolant system to expose the leak. The system may not leak at pressure less than that if it is a seal, weak hose, or hose clamp, etc. that is the cause of the leak.

Mister Quickie

Rented the big 22pc kit with all the adapters. Pumped to about 15. Found the leak. Tightened the hose, problem solved, thks

veleno

Cool, glad you were able to find it.

So where was it at?

Mister Quickie

Hose coming out of the top near the radiator. The drip would go down and catch other hoses on the way so it was confusing to "trace" the leak all the way up. Ended up tightening the jubilee clamp one and a half full turns.