Scruffboys tale of woe
 

Well, I just got walloped with a hospital bill for my daughter and my car insurance came due all at once. I can not afford a mechanic. Concerning my coolant leak, I'll have to go in there myself. It only seems to leak when running (i.e. hot=expanded). this is my daily ride, and after 4 days of going to work and back, the coolant was only down about a cup, not much. Would one of those additives possibly help, you know, the ones that are supposed to clog leaks. That's my father's suggestion (cheap bastard), but I told him I think they are made for RADIATOR leaks. My radiator doesn't leak. If I start to take appart the thermostat housing, are there a lot of gaskets in there. I don't want to tear it apart and not be able to put it back. I really wish I could find the exact spot of the leak, but it is so damn tight in there. I was thinking of following Suprra Girls diagram and just tightening everything possible. Well, I just needed a shoulder to cry on, thanks for letting me blab on.

Sincerely,

James in NJ

I would NOT use any stop leaks additives. They tend to plug up radiators and heater cores. They won't stop a leaky hose !! or at the clamp !!

Get a 3-4" mirror on a stick from parts house and a flashlight and a can of brake cleaner spray. Clean the area as best you can, then try to see where its coming from.

Well James in NJ,
You can't really cry because you don't know what to cry about.
I mean, it could be only a $2 hose, or it could be a ...... :eek:
There are many reasons why you could be losing coolant.
If you go to a shop, sometimes they will pressure test the cooling system for you for a $5 or 10. Under pressure, the leak may become apparent.

In this leaking...do you see that your overflow is full after driving when it gets hot?
Do you lose coolant from that area? A very cheap way to see if you are losing coolant from that area is to put a container (soda bottle) after the overflow dump tube. If the overflow dump tube spits out coolant in the bottle...well, that would indicate that combustion gasses are forcing the coolant out of the system. That would mean you have a BHG in that case.
A cheap test. I learned that trick from Duane (upgradedsupra) so he gets merit for that idea.

There you go: two cheap and simple test you can do in addition to what Nick said (I can never spell his name as he has it in his ID).

IF it is indeed your radiator (which you really have no basis at this point to think so--at least not from what I read), I can hook you up with one for only $25.
Not new, but holds pressure and is a MUCH better alternative than using Stop Leak, in my opinion.

Tell us how you make out.