Just got the truck back from the shop. Had a hughes plenum kit, water pump and 180* thermostat put in it. The radiator is a 1 year old replacement from O'reillys that the previous owner bought. It never leaked before I had it in the shop. Last night I was going out to play pool and I have remote start(10* here). I started the truck and it sounded like any other motor starting in cold weather. I let it run for a cycle, which is 10 minutes, then it shuts off. I started it again and let it run for another 5 minutes. When I went to get in it I was shocked to see coolant running down my driveway. I shut the truck off and tracked the leak to the bottom driverside corner of the radiator. I thought that it was the drain plug, but it seems to be dripping from that area, not the plug. after the truck sat for a couple minutes it stopped dripping. Another thing that I thought was strange was that even after running for 15 minutes,and it was blowing warm air, the radiator was still cold to the touch(not even a little warm). I went ahead and drove to the gas station and then the pool hall. Both times it never leaked a drop. I thought that maybe it was just leaking from parking at a slant. My driveway is very steep and I would say I park on a 30 degree angle, nose up. I let it set in the driveway overnight and tried it again this morning, but this time I stood there and watched for the leak. It ran for about 3 minutes and then it started to drip again. I would hope that the radiator would not be bad after only a year or so. And I know for sure that it never leaked before it went to the shop. Is there anyway that this could be from having the water pump replaced? Why would it leak only sometimes? I thought that if it was going to leak it would do it more when it's warmed up. I drove it at least 20 miles last night and it never leaked again until this mornings first start up. I am just about at the end of my rope with this truck. 93,xxx miles and it has already had more parts replaced than any other vechicle that I have owned. Thanks for letting me rant and I hope someone can point me in the right direction.
Thanks,
Chad

 

it very well could be from the shop.....when the mechanic was replacing the water pump he may have accidently punctured the radiator somewhere.....he was workng literally right there...and accidents happen... just a suggestion

sometimes they wont leak under pressure...as weird as that sounds....i just had to replace mine about 3 weeks ago, and guess what....same scenerio as you ( except for the shop) it would leak after i ran the truck and shut it off....but driving it it wouldnt leak a drop....sounds weird but i later found the hole in my radiator when i pressure tested it to see what was going on

maybe try pressure testing yours...find out exactly where it is leaking...maybe its fixable

 

Shop guy probably dropped it when he took it out.Could be a number of things.You need to determine where the leak is first.

 

As far as I know, he didn't have to take the radiator out to fix the plenum and water pump. And I just found the radiator reciept from the PO, he bought it on July 5 of 09. So, it is not even 6 months old. I am going to have the shop find the leak since I paid them $500 to fix it. I am not going to search for the leak because it is 16 degrees outside and the truck is too big to fit in my 2 car garage. The PO is a local Firefighter and the reciept for the radiator has the fire district as the name of the purchaser. I wonder if they would replace it under warranty at O'reillys?

 

It's worth a try.Good luck!

 

he may not have had to tke the rad out but he was workin in that area, he had to get the fan off and the water pump, somethign ma have hit the inside of the rad in the process

 

How long did you drive the truck after picking it up from the shop before parking in your driveway? It could be that they overfilled the coolant reservoir and it's just blowing out the overflow.

 

^very true...and there should be no reason why they took out the radiator...ive done all those myself, and radiator was not a problem, nor in the way...

 

I drove it about 35 miles since I got it back and parked it Friday night. This didn't happen until yesterday and I am positive that it is coming from the drivers side bottom of the radiator, not the overflow.

 

Are you sure it isn't running down the lower radiator hose to the corner of the radiator? Leaks often originate far from where you actually see them. Sounds like a water pump issue.