Today after pulling on my driveway I heard a sound like water dropping on hot exhaust manifold. Took a look under the car and saw a palm-sized spot of coolant on the tarmac. I could still hear some drops boiling on exhaust. I took a flashlight and noticed that the plate on which the coolant container is attached, seems wet. Touched the wet spot and confirmed it is coolant.

Seems like my coolant container has cracked. How common is this? Anyone else had this same problem?

The weird thing is that I just took my car for a half an hour ride to try to spot the exact location of the leak. However, no leak this time!!! Any thoughts?

Could it also be possible that coolant has spilled over and come out under the container cap? The cap seems very tight though.

Is there an over-flow pipe going out from the container or does the fluid overflow from the cap?

Sorry about my newbie questions. I just brought the car home from the dealer last weekend.

 

Very common to need your coolant expansion tank replaced. Sometimes the coolant cap needs replacing, too.

 

Common Occurrence. I have replaced mine twice and get a cap too!

 

The coolant tanks develop fine cracks, down toward the bottom of the tank, where you can't see them (of course). As others have said this is quite common. Do a search on "coolant" or "tank" to read other threads on this.

You will probably also find a couple of DIY instructions if you want to change it out yourself. I understand it is not that difficult, but because the area where the tank sits is so tight, you will end up inventing some combinations of cuss words that your never even imagined could fit together.

 

if your cap ends with a 00... get it replaced with a newer one.

 

Yep, the dealer changed the tank for warranty. No charge and no leaks now.