Cracked Radiator?

[candyman]

Like Ben always says, vanagons are not cold weather vehicles!

New behr radiator last may. Coolant mix 50/50. Here in western MT it has been below zero for a few days now and no sign of getting over freezing for atleast a week. Looked under van today and saw the small puddle under the spare clam shell drivers side. I thought maybe the radiator fan sensor may need tightening, but not the case. Looking up i can see coolant all over the plastic housing. Have not fully found the crack yet as it is only 9 degrees currently and am not interested in a coolant bath at the moment. So will pull the rad and report back on my findings. But being the drivers side it has to be a crack right? Because there are no hoses on this side and other than the fan sensor, no way for coolant to leak. In 25 years of vanagon ownership and exposing these vans to extreme cold, I have never seen a radiator crack, especially a new one. It is under warranty so thats good. But even in the summer this job blows, but while its below zero out... Fun

[djkeev]

Is the Van parked so the left is lower than the right side?
If so, a leak on the right can wick across and drip off the left side.

Yeah, I've been watching Great Falls... -5* .... Today +20* with windchill of +6* ....... Brrrrr!!!!
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[Tom Powell]

I went skiing in Utah last year and found coolant dripping from the rear trailing arm after several days of parking in cold weather. Later found drips under the radiator mounts on the passenger side. Later found drips from the clamshell. Kept the coolant topped up, but it didn't take that much. Returned to SoCal and no more leaks. I never did pinpoint the source of the drips.

Cold weather coolant drips seem to be common for Vanagons and stop in warmer weather.

There are other posts about cold weather coolant leaks.

Aloha
tp

[candyman]

So did so more investigating. I was able to shine a light up thru the fan and get a good look at the back side. It appears that the plastic side res has seperated where it meets the rad itself. The gasket must have hated this cold weather and shrunk abit letting coolant seep out. It is wet all up and down that junction. Passenger side looks fairly dry but shows a slight bit of weeping as well.
I agree extreme cold weather does show leaks that do not appear when warm. I had a head gasket leak years ago do that and then never leaked again. I will monitor this closely a see if it "tightens" itself back up when it gets *warmer*.
No matter what i will replace the radiator when weather permits since it is under warranty, piece of mind kind of stuff.
Yeah Dave, first thing i checked was to make sure nothing was leaking on pass side since the bus is parked on an angle. Enjoy your Montana trip and stay warm

[IdahoDoug]

If the rad is constructed in the normal fashion, there is a large rubber Oring across and around where the plastic tank and metal fins join. There will be a row of aluminum "fingers" that are tapped down to exert pressure on the rubber. It may well be you can merely take a short wood or brass dowel and tap them gently as they were not done far enough at the factory for the cold shrinkage factor (Seinfeld reference). I've had this happen before in extreme cold as well on another vehicle.

DougM
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