How to quickly and accurately find the source of a coolant leak
Maintaining a good level of coolant in your vehicle is essential to avoid overheating. If you think there's a leak, find where it's coming from to fix it.
Coolant is vital to your engine. A mixture of coolant and water circulates in the engine to absorb heat. The water pump circulates past the thermostat through the coolant hoses to the radiator for cooling by air movement and then back through the engine. If your engine is running low or completely out of coolant, the resulting overheating can permanently damage your engine.
Always check your coolant every time you check your vehicle's oil level. If you've started noticing drops in levels between checks, it's time to find out where the leak is. If there is a coolant leak, you may see a puddle under the car or start noticing a sweet smell coming from the engine bay after a ride.
Part 1 of 1: Find the Source of Your Coolant Leak
Necessary materials
- pressure tester
Step 1: Visually inspect the radiator, hoses, and around the engine.. Your vehicle has upper and lower radiator hoses, heater hoses at the rear of the engine connecting to the heater core, and possibly a couple of other smaller hoses going to the intake manifold or throttle body area. If visual inspection shows nothing, proceed to the tried and tested method of using the pressure tester.
Step 2: Use a pressure tester. Attach a pressure tester in place of the radiator cap.
FunctionsA: If you don't have a pressure tester or would like to purchase one, some auto parts stores offer rental tools.
Attention: The pressure rating will be marked on the radiator cap. When you apply pressure with a pressure tester, make sure that the pressure on the scale is not exceeded. Always pressurize the cooling system with the engine off.
Step 3: Check again for a leak. After increasing the pressure, inspect the engine compartment again. Be sure to check all hoses, the radiator itself, all coolant hoses, and temperature sensors on or around the intake manifold. Now you will most likely find the source of the leak.
If you are not comfortable doing this check yourself, you can have an AvtoTachki certified technician check for a coolant leak.
