Ok......soooo....January 2013 my radiator went out. I had it replaced and everything was fine. In September 2013 the radiator was leaking again, took it back to the mechanic and he replaced the radiator again. I noticed in December that there was coolant leaking again. I took it to the same mechanic and he said the water pump needed to be replaced. I replaced the water pump but two week later I had coolant leaking out of the radiator hose, where it attaches to the radiator. I took it back to the mechanic, he pressure tested it and said he couldnt detect where the leak was coming from. SO....he replaced the radiator again. A week later the coolant was still coming out of the hose. I took it back, they tightened the clamps and pressure tested it. It leaked a week later. Just this past Monday, I took it back to them. They replaced the hose and the thermostat housing. I took it home and everything was fine. Today, another leak in the same spot, where the hose attaches to the radiator. Any body else have a similar problem?? Any ideas??? HELP!!!

 

I guess i am lucky since i havent paid for anything except the first radiator and the water pump, only abou 600 dollars total, but this is still very frustrating.....

 

I have to tip my hat to you for being able to write this story without adding lots of flavoring and spices. In your place, the top of my head would have blown off somewhere in the third round.
Anyway, it's difficult to figure out what's going on here. Modern hoses are really well built, and can often last for the life of the vehicle. My hoses are 11 years old, and none of them have ever had to be replaced. So I'm wondering about the hose clamps. Do you know how to tell a spring type clamp from a worm gear type? I don't think much of spring clamps anyway, and have totally given up on ever reusing them - nothing but worm clamps for me. So if the mechanic reused the factory spring clamps, that might be the cause of what's going on. I would hope this guy is beyond trying to save a few bucks on clamps, but not much surprises me when it comes to auto repair.
One other thing that could happen is an over-pressurized cooling system (caused by a blown head gasket), but I think that would just exit at the overflow tank instead of well-tightened hose clamps.

 

Clamps were changed each time they changed the radiator and when they changed the hose. It looks now that the coolant is leaking out of the bottom hose. Very unlikely that both hoses would go bad at the same time. Anybody know what would happen if maybe the wrong radiator was put in????

 

with regards to the head gasket.... no coolant in the oil and the coolant is not leaking out the overflow tank. I can see where it is coming out. So, possible not a head gasket. What do you think??

 

FYI - you can possibly go to a parts place near you and barrow tools. You can get a tester to see if there are exhaust gases leaking into your cooling system (which would show a blown head gasket). You can also get a pressure tester. Someone here would know better, but you can probably hook it up without pumping it up, run the engine, and see if the pressure is within range.

 

no white smoke out of exhaust or any coolant mixed with oil. Still a possibility of head gasket?

 

yes. instead of the coolant going into the cylinder, it's possible, due to the pressure during combustion, that the leak is just going the other way - gases into the coolant. the test is quick and simple - and free, if you barrow the test kit!

 

Examples of two types of testers that may help: