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Coolant leaking around the radiator

Hello,

I have a '94 Mazda Protege. For the last few days, I have seen coolant on the top edges of the radiator. This could be due to a leak somewhere. When I am driving, I see smoke coming out of the hood. Most probably, this could be due to the coolant burning. When I turn the A/C on, which in turn switches on the radiator fan, I don't see the smoke anymore. I also get the coolant smell while I am driving. For the last couple of days, the smell has increased.

My question is: How dangerous can this be? If there is a leak in my radiator and I keep putting coolant in it, will that be okay? Does this signal the need for immediate replacement of the radiator? If the coolant is spilling on other engine parts, can this cause some damage that didn't exist previously? Or could I be completely wrong in thinking that this is happening due to a leak in the radiator?

Since mine is an old car, I want to spend the least amount of money on it to keep it running. Any help I can get from you gurus would be highly appreciated.

Thanks, Mark

Reply to
Mark
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It could run the gamut.You could lose all your coolant and burn up the engine, for example. Or something much less bad could happen.

Maybe but that's not a really good idea of course. You could poison animals for example if it leaked in a parked position.

Only if the radiator has a problem, like a leak that isn't feasible to fix.

Unless it's alot of coolant, I would probably say that was unlikely over the short term say 6 months but long term, who knows? Certainly not me!

Have you checked all the hoses? Are you sure the leak isn't in one of your hoses instead? Sure you don't have air trapped in the system, yada yada?

Reply to
mZ

Could be the cap leaking. Could be the neck (the "collar" under the cap) leaking. Could be the overflow hose (which is right on the radiator filler neck, usually) leaking.

Reply to
Lecher9000

Is it worth about three dollars? I had a lot of radiator problems in a 92 grand am. I didn't want to spend a lot of money either, too many other problems with the car. Then I found out about this sealer stuff. There's one called Alumaseal and there's some other brands too. Just follow the directions, it's real simple and cheap too. You can get it at any auto store and probably wal-mart. If this doesn't solve the leakyness then it's a great big hole or a whole 'nother problem.

Reply to
raindrop

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