#COOLANT POURING OUT OF BOTTOM OF CAR FREE#

#COOLANT POURING OUT OF BOTTOM OF CAR FREE#

In line with ’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. If the culprit continues to evade detection, you might consider a radiator stop-leak additive, available at auto parts stores, which seals small leaks - but it’s always better to find and repair the problem’s source, especially in the case of faulty head gaskets, which can lead your power supply to overheat and cause catastrophic engine damage.Ĭars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. Coolant has a way of escaping only under pressure when the car is running - possibly in the form of steam, which may not leave a trace. If you can’t find a leak, have it checked by a mechanic. (Thick white smoke coming from the tailpipe is actually steam, a telltale symptom.) A blown gasket between the cylinder head and engine block is another possibility, allowing coolant inside the combustion chambers - a problem that must be addressed immediately by a mechanic. If the radiator appears to be OK, the cooling system offers several possibilities for leaks, including the hoses from the radiator to the engine, the radiator cap, water pump, engine block, thermostat, reservoir tank, heater core (a small radiator that circulates hot coolant into the dashboard for passenger-compartment heating) and others. Those are telltale signs of where it has leaked. If you can’t see coolant dripping or seeping, look for rust, tracks or discoloration on the radiator. Your vehicle may have an aluminum radiator that technically can’t rust, but aluminum can corrode or develop pinhole leaks too.Īntifreeze comes in different colors - green, yellow and pinkish-red, for example - feels like slimy water and usually has a sweet smell. Rust inside the radiator or holes from road debris also can cause coolant leaks. It’s best to check the radiator from every angle, not just from above, and pay particular attention to seams and the bottom. Some radiator leaks will be easy to spot - such as a puddle underneath the radiator - but others not so much. Once you know you’re losing coolant, the radiator is a good place to start. Having too little coolant in the car’s cooling system can cause engine overheating and/or make your cabin heater blow cold air. If it’s empty or low, the next step should be to check the coolant level in the radiator, but that should be done only when the engine is cool. (Coolant is often referred to as antifreeze, but technically coolant is a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water.) You can easily check the coolant level in your see-through overflow tank. Related: Common Radiator and Cooling-System Problemsįirst, make sure it’s coolant that’s leaking, not another fluid. CARS.COM - How can you tell when your car’s radiator is leaking? When the temperature gauge on your dashboard reads high or a temperature warning light comes on, you have a cooling system problem that may be caused by leakage - be it in the radiator itself or some other component.

Coolant pouring out of bottom of car