I have the 2001 Dodge Caravan with the 3.3 Liter engine (I think it’s a 3.3, the largest anyway). I was having a drip and losing coolant at the lower right hand side of the radiator (driver’s side). Thinking it was the radiator, I replaced it with a new one, along with the lower radiator hose (The upper had been replaced within the last year). Much to my dismay something is still leaking and shows up on the bottom of the crossmember bar in which the radiator sits in. I’m thinking I did nothing to solve the problem. But what in the world would also be in the general area that would cause an anti-freeze leak? I noticed a couple other smaller radiator type devices, one probably has to do with the air conditioning and don’t know about the other, probably a transmission cooler? Anyone have any ideas?
If it’s dripping liquid, then it’s liquid when it exits and runs down to the support. Use paper towels to swab around all the hose connections etc the wet paper helps to see small leaks. Otherwise, just keep looking upward to find the origin. It might take removing things to get better view but the tracks should be there…
Any chance the new radiator is leaking due to a faulty motor mount which then caused the engine torque to fracture a hose nipple on it?
Or could it be some residual coolant which is just taking some time to drip off?
Interesting concept on the motor mount. I don’t THINK it could be the problem. The residual thing, going to give it a few days and monitor the coolant level and see what happens.
After fixing a leak or replacing a radiator, flood the area with water to wash away any residual antifreeze . Antifreeze won’t evaporate and dry up like water.
Could be a pinhole leak in the upper radiator hose. Did you replace the radiator cap also.
Yes, there may be radiator looking things for the AC, the transmission, the power steering etc, but those don’t have coolant running through them. So if it is definitely coolant that is leaking, not likely to be those.
If I had that symptom on my Corolla the first thing I’d suspect is the hose from the top of the radiator to the coolant overflow tank was leaking. Usually that would occur at the junction, either at the radiator or the overflow tank. I’d also check to see if the overflow tank had sprung a leak. That’s easy to do on the Corolla as it can be removed from the engine compartment without much difficulty.
If it wasn’t any of those? I guess the next suspects would be where the main upper and lower hoses leave the radiator and connect to the engine. And the drain valve at the bottom of the radiator.
Good ideas posted above for tricks leak detectives commonly use. If you want to go all Sherlock Holmes on this problem, there’s UV dyes that can be put into the radiator and leaks found using a UV light source.