I opened up my good the other day and saw I'm leaking antifreeze on the left side of my car. The car isn't running hot but it is still leaking antifreeze. I tried to search to find whats most likely happening but had less than great luck. I figure my radiator is bad, but was wondering if it could be anything else. if it is the radiator, could I do the change myself? I looked for the DIY but couldn't find it. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Some of the posts I read said it could be a blown head gasket. That cannot be right can it!?

 

there's a lot of places it can leak...is it driver or passenger side? there's the radiator of course, thermostat housing, water pump, there's an engine coolant drain bolt (19mm) on the passenger side of the block, etc.

 

Feel around with your hand and see where it gets wet. Most of the places it could leek from are far enough apart to narrow it down fairly quickly.

On a super-obvious note, make sure the little white plastic drain plug at the bottom of the radiator is tight.

 

check the small coolant line. I had that problem before where one coolant line developed a leak around the clamp.

 

get a cooling system pressure tester and pump up the system... get under the car and look for the drip drip drip

 

IF it's the radiator (mine cracked at the top plastic 80kmi/7yrs) it's really quite easy to replace. The Helm manual is your friend - pick one up!