Coolant leak

[rob-81]

Hi everyone,

I have a quick question I would like to ask about my recently acquired 19TGD. I have had the car for under a week and have done 700 miles in it so far. Until this morning, it had been faultless. I arrived at work this morning and noticed a slight drip of coolant from the bottom left-hand side (near side) of the radiator. The drip is small and I can’t identify the leak. It seems to be coming from the very base of the radiator. The radiator looks quite new and seems to be in good condition. Does anybody have any suggestions for finding this leak?

If it isn’t something simple, I will take it down to my local specialist. The garage is about 2 or 3 miles across town from where I live. To be safe, I thought I would drive there without the radiator cap in place, to reduce pressure and hopefully reduce any leakage. Is this advisable?

I guess I was lucky it didn’t develop a leak yesterday on my run to the airport and back!

Thanks in advance,
Rob

[ken newbold]

Is there much pressure in the system? other than that, just check that the radiator bleed screw which you'll find at the top left of the rad isn't leaking.
Also I think the 19D rads have a small rubber pipe down the left side of the rad, make sure that isn't leaking.

[rob-81]

Thanks for that ken. I took it down to the garage. The rad has worn through where the plastic frame meets the core. Oh well, at least it was caught before any harm was done. Booked in for a new radiator.