Need some help with a small coolant leak

[BlueSuit82]

Got a 93 Suburban, 5.7L, that developed a small coolant leak earlier. Its coming from a small, round hole on the bottom of the radiator, almost directly beneath where the lower radiator hose goes in on the passenger side. Again, its very minor so far. After I park it, it will leave a spot about the size of a half dollar, and that's it. Of course, its irritating the hell out of me, though.... I'm not even sure what the purpose of that hole is. Could it be leaking from somewhere else and running out through that hole, or is it a drain plug of some kind. I can't see it very well, and I wanted to get some advice before I start tearing out parts. No problem with overheating, and no coolant coming from the water pump or hoses or the hose connection. As always, thanks for the help!!!

 

[Yeti_Owner]

Take a photo, upload it to www.imgur.com, link it here, so we can get an idea of where it is.

 

[BlueSuit82]

Here's the link to one of the photos

http://i.imgur.com/6Fc10ei.jpg

It's from the bottom looking up. That's the lower rad hose going into the radiator.

 

[addiction2bass]

small leaks can be really hard to find sometimes. see if you can get one of those pressurized units to test your radiator out and pressurize it and look for any leaks then would be the best way to find it. otherwise i HIGHLY suggest getting afew gallons of water in the back of the truck and keep a good eye on that temp gauge!!!!!!!! DO NOT RUN IT IF IT GETS ANYWHERE NEAR THE RED! CUT THE MOTOR OFF AND COAST TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD! DONT TRY GOING ANOTHER BLOCK AND WARP YOUR HEADS AND CAUSE A SERIOUS DAMAGE!

check all the hoses. maybe its got corrosion on the radiators hose connection where the hose goes onto and maybe it just needs cleaned off and clamped back on again. really hard to guess without seeing in person and take off some shields.

 

[Yeti_Owner]

small leaks can be really hard to find sometimes. see if you can get one of those pressurized units to test your radiator out and pressurize it and look for any leaks then would be the best way to find it. otherwise i HIGHLY suggest getting afew gallons of water in the back of the truck and keep a good eye on that temp gauge!!!!!!!! DO NOT RUN IT IF IT GETS ANYWHERE NEAR THE RED! CUT THE MOTOR OFF AND COAST TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD! DONT TRY GOING ANOTHER BLOCK AND WARP YOUR HEADS AND CAUSE A SERIOUS DAMAGE!

check all the hoses. maybe its got corrosion on the radiators hose connection where the hose goes onto and maybe it just needs cleaned off and clamped back on again. really hard to guess without seeing in person and take off some shields.

Psst.... he found the leak.. it's a hole in the tank.

 

[Yeti_Owner]

Hey bud - I hate to tell you this, but there is not designed hole in that location. (It's kind of hard to see, from that photo, how to "orient" against the diagram below, though. The drainplug is on the other side. By the "clean spots", you may have galled a hole in it or broken a mount (I don't think there is a mount in that area). The good news is, replacement radiators are cheap. The bad news is, you may need one

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[96k1500]

Looks like a rock or somethin bounced up and punctured it, possably pull it out and jb weld it for a temporary fix, you can get a replacement radiator for like $75 tho

 

[Yeti_Owner]

Looks like a rock or somethin bounced up and punctured it, possably pull it out and jb weld it for a temporary fix, you can get a replacement radiator for like $75 tho

+10 on the JB weld lol. That crap will fix anything.

 

[BlueSuit82]

Thanks for the replies.... This burb only has 21,000 miles on it, only ever been serviced at 1 dealership, and never for any cooling system problems. (Have all service records back to 93.). BUT....it has sat in a garage for most of its life, so I guess anything could happen at this point. Sort of a weird situation, not your normal course of decay.

 

[BlueSuit82]

And that's a perfectly round hole like its supposed to be there....it appears that that hole isn't in the radiator itself, but where it's mounted into on the bottom...maybe...haven't worked on one of these in years