lexus082 Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 The stock radiator was leaking at the top, so to save money I went with an aftermarket radiator that the Toyota dealer offered for my car. So after 53,000 miles it is leaking also. Go figure. Anyway, I worried about driving it, b/c the last oem radiator just kinda bursted going up a mountain. Here's the thing: The temp needle is still in the normal zone but it drops a little bit and then comes back up almost to where it usually is but not all the way. Can anyone explain why the temp. would drop if I have a leak in the radiator? Is it b/c air is getting into the system causing air pockets? Thats the only thing I can think of or does that sound like I am a little low on coolant. I think I noticed my heat no being as intense as before. Doesn't get as hot, which is sometimes related to a low coolant level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzz30 Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 air bubbles will have an effect on temp readings as air pockets will make the coolant not flow well and your dip in reading may be an uncirculated part of the coolant which was cooler than the rest circulating and giving you that reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexus082 Posted January 14, 2007 Author Share Posted January 14, 2007 Well after looking at it more closely it appears that the upper hose was leaking. The aftermarket radiator has sort of a lip on the top and the coolant dripped from the upper hose (that connects to the top radiator) and fell into that lip and traveled all the way around the top of the radiator. Which made it look like the radiator was leaking at the top which is what happened with the oem radiator. So I tried to clean up most of the old coolant off the radiator and tightened the upper hose clamp. I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on it. The only thing is i think there must be air in the system b/c the temp needle is still moving very slightly up and down. Usually it stays in the same exact spot once the engine is warm. Could air have entered the system through that loose hose. The hose was still tight and I still don't see how it came from the hose but thats the only thing that makes any sense after cleaning it up and looking at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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