# Mystery coolant leak need help figuring it out....



## pctek (Jul 18, 2010)

I have a 05 goat all stock it has almost 50,000 miles on it, and I have a mystery coolant leak! Couple weeks ago I I added some coolant to top it off cause it was low but since I bought it and now I never see coolant fluid under car its bone dry. So I thought maybe the rad cap was weak and maybe it was coming out of filler neck because I think I saw white burnt deposits running down the rad from the filler neck side.

So yesterday I was changing out air filter and cleaning the maf sensor and checked the coolant and again it was low, but I don't still see fluid on the ground. 

Could it be possible there's a small leak but since the rad is so Hot it can be burning it up before hits the ground?

probably a leak in the cores somewhere huh? Thanks


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## 87GN06GTO07IRL (Aug 10, 2009)

Any coolant in the oil? Does the exhaust smell sweet?


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

pctek said:


> I have a 05 goat all stock it has almost 50,000 miles on it, and I have a mystery coolant leak! Couple weeks ago I I added some coolant to top it off cause it was low but since I bought it and now I never see coolant fluid under car its bone dry. So I thought maybe the rad cap was weak and maybe it was coming out of filler neck because I think* I saw white burnt deposits running down the rad from the filler neck side.*
> So yesterday I was changing out air filter and cleaning the maf sensor and checked the coolant and again it was low, but I don't still see fluid on the ground.
> 
> Could it be possible there's a small leak but since the rad is so Hot it can be burning it up before hits the ground?
> ...


Find the highest point that you see the white residue and that is probally where the leak is.


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## Gotagoat (Jan 6, 2006)

I had a similar leak and it was loose clamps on the small hoses that are located, I believe, at the base of the reservoir. It was warranty work so I wasn't involved in the fix.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

Check all the hoses and connections for sticky red residue under the car too. Run the car check the exhuast for white/sweet smoke.


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## Zdenek2334 (Sep 7, 2010)

The best idea would be to pressure test the system. Once you do that you can immediately heqar or see where the leak if coming from (if it's external). If you see absolutely NOTHING and you checked every inch of the car, check the oil as 06gtoin216 said, and if it looks like a milkshake then you definite;y have an internal leak. This is mostly due to head gasket leaks, so check everything out and make sure the car's okay.


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

pctek said:


> I have a 05 goat all stock it has almost 50,000 miles on it, and I have a mystery coolant leak! Couple weeks ago I I added some coolant to top it off cause it was low but since I bought it and now I never see coolant fluid under car its bone dry. So I thought maybe the rad cap was weak and maybe it was coming out of filler neck because I think I saw white burnt deposits running down the rad from the filler neck side.
> 
> So yesterday I was changing out air filter and cleaning the maf sensor and checked the coolant and again it was low, but I don't still see fluid on the ground.
> 
> ...


My car is at the dealership what almost seems based on the same issue as yours. One thing to definitely check for is to see if your transcooler lines are not rotting away or leaking. From GM they are nearly $100.00 a piece. Be very careful with this as I learned a hard lesson losing nearly $3000.00 for a head gasket replacement on my '05 GTO which is tied to exactly what you are experiencing.

Also coolant can be leaking out of your head gaskets too, this is more of a common problem in GTOs than I thought. 

Hopefully I'll get to pick my car up today. It has been in the dealership for seven days now.


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## pctek (Jul 18, 2010)

Well from the rear of car exhuast tips I dont see any white smoke or any color smoke coming out its clear as it can be, and I dont smell nothing funny or sweet. So Hopefully its just a rad issue.

Tommorow when I put in a new stp stock air filter I will check the fluid level since it'll be couple days running since I topped it off. I 'll report tommrow.....


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## pctek (Jul 18, 2010)

Ok finally foound the leak. Ok so when you open the hood and remove top black engine bay cover over the rad, then look at your left side/passenger side, infront of the rad below the rad cap/neck, along downwards theres a straight harline crack going straight down. I couldnt see much beyond half way down, so atleast its cracked half way. 

So I think it was this past saturday I added more fluid and today I added about a 1 cup worth to top it off again. So at this rate seems like it loses about a cup of fluid every 2-3 days worth of my regular dailiy driving.

I was thinking about epoxy/jb weld, you guys this thats a good idea or neh? Thanks


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## pctek (Jul 18, 2010)

Does anyone have a DIY in removal of a radiator for my 05 a4 goat? Thanks


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

In the link below there's a link to the Mitchell 1 OnDemand database. Use the user name and password in the post to get in and then you can search your vehicle and then search 'radiator' and that should lead you to the removal and installation procedures.
http://www.gtoforum.com/233104-post3.html


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## pctek (Jul 18, 2010)

HP11 said:


> In the link below there's a link to the Mitchell 1 OnDemand database. Use the user name and password in the post to get in and then you can search your vehicle and then search 'radiator' and that should lead you to the removal and installation procedures.
> http://www.gtoforum.com/233104-post3.html


Cool thanks for this....


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

I wouldn't even drive the car until you get the rad replaced. If it's cracked it can blow and cause tons of engine damage. Good luck.


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## 06SixOhGoat (Jun 19, 2010)

http://www.gtoforum.com/f3/06-goat-w-radiator-crack-45kmiles-29496/

Take a look at that. i have 45k on my car and this is what happend to mine.


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## pctek (Jul 18, 2010)

06SixOhGoat said:


> http://www.gtoforum.com/f3/06-goat-w-radiator-crack-45kmiles-29496/
> 
> Take a look at that. i have 45k on my car and this is what happend to mine.


Hahah thats the exact crack wheres mine is at, but not severe yet slow leak. I should take the advice from the guy above us and not drive it before it gets worst. 

Thats why Today just placed an rad order for my 05 from that ebay seller Pro Radiators that some people here got from them also. Whats cool is that they are in torrance california and im in cali to so she said I should get it tommorow, which I can install it saturday. Thanks for all help.... :seeya:


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## pctek (Jul 18, 2010)

My new radiator did come in today, so I will put it on tommrow. Do I need any special tool to remove the auto tranny cooling line from the radiator?


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

I'm not sure on the GTO since mine is a 6 speed but on my daiily driver Ranger (auto trans) I use a flare wrench on the lines while holding the fitting on the radiator with an open end wrench.


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## pctek (Jul 18, 2010)

Also a question for you or someone else, I printed some removal instructions on ALLDATA for the electric fan removal and even the radiator instructions says remove the negative battery terminal why? Thanks


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

That's just a precaution that's generally suggested when working with any electrical components. It keeps you for accidentally shorting something out.


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## pctek (Jul 18, 2010)

HP11 said:


> That's just a precaution that's generally suggested when working with any electrical components. It keeps you for accidentally shorting something out.


But no performance lost or something from the ecu getting reset by removing battery terminal?


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

Not that I know of. When I replaced my battery, I had the old one out of the car for quite a while as they had to charge it before they could test it. When I put the new one in nothing changed.


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## pctek (Jul 18, 2010)

Ok just finshed a while ago removing and putting on new rad. It wasnt hard just time consuming, mostly wasted more time going to autozone 3 seperate time.

1st time I went to get the 2 serpentine belts cause the originals were cracking, 2nd time went to get gallon on dexcool 50/50, 3rd time get another gallon dexcool cause it need more.

So drove it check for leaks looking good, just added little bit of trany fluid and thats it. Thanks for all helps.


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