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Phantom Antifreeze Leak

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Old Mar 21, 2006 | 06:59 PM
  #1  
Daytona T/A's Avatar
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Car: 1983 25th Anniversary Daytona 500 Pace Car Trans Am
Engine: 5.0L 305 Crossfire-Injected V8
Transmission: 4 spd. auto
Phantom Antifreeze Leak

When I first got my car is would leak antifreeze on occassion... I finally had it looked at and they decided I needed a new radiator cap. The problem went away. Now all the sudden it started today. I noticed a puddle underneith my car at school and when I stopped in to work I noticed antifreeze was running out the bottom. I got it home and it quit leaking. Now I can't get it to leak again. The hoses are not wet and they're tight with no cracks. The only thing that is wet it the radiator support. Does anyone know why my car does this? Also, it hasn't done this in at least a year, maybe 2.
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Old Mar 21, 2006 | 09:46 PM
  #2  
Sonix's Avatar
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From: Calgary, AB, Canada
Car: 1982 Trans-Am
Engine: 355 w/ ported 416s
Transmission: T10, hurst shifter
Axle/Gears: 10 bolt, true-trac, 3.73
best way to find this, would be to rent a "cooling system pressure tester", or get a mechanic to do it for you. You screw it onto your rad cap, and pump the handle, and read on the gauge the pressure. Pump it up until you can see it leaking (it's ok to go over normal pressure for a short time to find a leak i'd think.)
I had a small leak I couldn't find before, had my mechanic do this, and watched a tiny hose near my intake manifold go 'old faithful' on me, easy fix.
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Old Mar 21, 2006 | 09:58 PM
  #3  
simpletrick's Avatar
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Joined: Sep 2004
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From: El Paso, TX
Car: 88 Camaro RS
Engine: L03
Transmission: 700R4
You might want to check the drain plug. This happend to me a few months back. No leaks when the radiator was warm but once it cooled the coolant was seeping past the rubber seal.
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Old Mar 22, 2006 | 01:20 AM
  #4  
Stekman's Avatar
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From: Grand Rapids, MI
Car: Z28
Engine: Sb2.2 406
Transmission: Jerico 4 speed
Axle/Gears: Ford 9" 3.60
The whereabouts under the car would be an indication of where to start looking. Water pump weep hole is another thing to consider.

Anything under the hood have coolant "marks" on it? If it's under the hood, and it leaks, it will PROBABLY leave a trail of some sort. I.e. when my water pump went bad, the coolant out the weep hole got onto the crank pulley and threw coolant everywhere. Likewise, when the heater valve broke in half, coolant spewed all over the place under the hood.
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Old Oct 20, 2010 | 05:20 PM
  #5  
copperhead110's Avatar
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From: Seattle, WA
Re: Phantom Antifreeze Leak

My 88 would only leak when it was all warmed up. there was a crack in one of the tanks.
When the car was warm, there was enough pressure to push fluid thru the crack.
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