Hi i have a 97 dodge ram pickup 2500. I just bought it about a week ago. A few days ago i noticed it was leaking raditor fluid from the drivers side but can't seem to find where the actual leak is coming from in the radiator. It only leaks every once in awhile, it is not constant. The leak doesn't seem to be affected by how long i use the vehicle for or how hot the thermostat shows. It seems to leak at just random times. I see plenty of radiator fluid around the radiator but none from anything that could be leaking. All of the hoses seem to be new so i'm not sure if this is an old problem never fixed, however the previous owner seemed to take care of everything else pretty well so it is suprising that they would let this one problem stay. I have tried using bars leak (the one that comes in a grey bottle) and that doesn't seem to have fixed the problem. It doesn't seem to be over heating at all.

I will leave the vehicle running and try to watch and wait for a leak to come up but haven't gotten lucky to see it actually leaking.

I'm thinking that there is just a crack or hole in the radiator somewhere that i just cant see, but I can't figure out why it wouldn't be constantly leaking or why i wouldn't see it while watching the the radiator while havng the engine idle.

 

Did you check the thermostat neck?

 

The leak is coming from the plastic part of the radator on the drivers side. It's a small crack in it. I had the same thing happen to me. I took the radator to a radator shop and they replaced the plastic part, for like $50 bucks.

 

Yup that is a common place for it to go out. Better get it fixed soon, or you won't be driving it anywhere. Most radiator shops can fix that for around $75. Don't go out and buy a new one unless there are no radiator shops around you. I hate seeing guys spend $300 on a new radiator that they don't need.

 

leaks often occur not while running and hot, but about 5-10 minutes after you cut it off, due to temperature and pressure build up. take a look then and see if you can spot it. also check the simple things - rad hose clamp. if you can't find it don't worry - a radiator shop will pressure test the system with some pretty high pressures which will expose it PDQ.

if you do feel like replacing it, cheap ones are available on ebay. here's an example.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DODGE...spagenameZWDVW