Trying to find the source of a coolant leak..

[denalianyone]

I have a coolant leak yet the “low coolant” message hasn’t popped up as of yet. As of yesterday, on start-up the exhaust has a high pitch growl tone. I’m not sure if the water pump is going bad or the radiator is the culprit. The leak is prominent on the driver side with fluid on the splash pan and by the radiator. With the temp(s) in the 35 degree range in NYC my electric fans kicked on yesterday which was very odd. There is also a small hole that I circled in the pic below that looks like it’s missing a plug of some sort. Any help will be greatly appreciated before I start tackling this job.




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[NoReverseYukon]

I have a coolant leak yet the “low coolant” message hasn’t popped up as of yet. As of yesterday, on start-up the exhaust has a high pitch growl tone. I’m not sure if the water pump is going bad or the radiator is the culprit. The leak is prominent on the driver side with fluid on the splash pan and by the radiator. With the temp(s) in the 35 degree range in NYC my electric fans kicked on yesterday which was very odd. There is also a small hole that I circled in the pic below that looks like it’s missing a plug of some sort. Any help will be greatly appreciated before I start tackling this job.


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If this ^^^ photo is from the drivers side, you might be missing a drain valve. On my 2001, I have one and a drain tube there. Although I can't imagine that your radiator wouldn't drain immediately if the drain valve was missing.

 

[denalianyone]

If this ^^^ photo is from the drivers side, you might be missing a drain valve. On my 2001, I have one and a drain tube there. Although I can't imagine that your radiator wouldn't drain immediately if the drain valve was missing.

After looking at this video regarding replacement of the radiator, I don’t think that hole is relevant to anything. On an aftermarket radiator it may serve as a drain hole.

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[exp500]

Wash it off, Start it up and look some more. Look at radiator tanks for cracks, hoses for leaks.

 

[Geotrash]

That “hole” in the radiator doesn’t go anywhere. It’s molded into the tank and would be drilled and used if you had an engine oil cooler.

Based on the pictures though, it looks like the leak is coming from above that. Perhaps a crack in the radiator side tank plastic, or a leak at the upper radiator hose.


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[kbuskill]

I have a coolant leak yet the “low coolant” message hasn’t popped up as of yet. As of yesterday, on start-up the exhaust has a high pitch growl tone. I’m not sure if the water pump is going bad or the radiator is the culprit. The leak is prominent on the driver side with fluid on the splash pan and by the radiator. With the temp(s) in the 35 degree range in NYC my electric fans kicked on yesterday which was very odd. There is also a small hole that I circled in the pic below that looks like it’s missing a plug of some sort. Any help will be greatly appreciated before I start tackling this job.




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That leak looks just like mine did on my Burb. It was a crack in the plastic end tank on the driverside near the top.

That hole you circled is where the petcock/drain valve would be IF GM didn't cheap out on the NNBS trucks.

The older trucks had a petcock on the radiator and also had cabin air filters and lights under the hood... I wonder how much GM saved, as a whole, by deleting these items from every single truck in the GMT900 platform???

 

[denalianyone]

That “hole” in the radiator doesn’t go anywhere. It’s molded into the tank and would be drilled and used if you had an engine oil cooler.

Based on the pictures though, it looks like the leak is coming from above that. Perhaps a crack in the radiator side tank plastic, or a leak at the upper radiator hose.


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The upper radiator hose is dry so your prediction referring to the tank plastic may be the issue.


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[1BADI5]

Looks like its time to replace it and move on, its not going to be an item you can repair.

 

[denalianyone]

Looks like its time to replace it and move on, its not going to be an item you can repair.

Yes sir. Got another one on the way. Rather simple job since it was time I flush the coolant with 112k miles. I was just confused about the loud growl on start-up similar to a muffler delete.


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[denalianyone]

That leak looks just like mine did on my Burb. It was a crack in the plastic end tank on the driverside near the top.

That hole you circled is where the petcock/drain valve would be IF GM didn't cheap out on the NNBS trucks.

The older trucks had a petcock on the radiator and also had cabin air filters and lights under the hood... I wonder how much GM saved, as a whole, by deleting these items from every single truck in the GMT900 platform???

Yup so the leak was at the top of the tank with a hairline hole. New radiator was installed n used about 2 1/2 bottles of dexcool to refill.


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