[jaygreg]

2000 Concorde LXi; 138K miles prox.; well maintained.

Over the past month, I've noticed an ounce or two of radiator fluid on my garage floor when I drive for m a half hour or so. Short jaunts (10 miles) don't seem to leave anything but then.... the fluid may simplpy not have dripped long enough from it's small source.

A luminous fluid was placed in the radiator by my mechanic. He saw a trace of the fluid above the fan shaft.... I did not. But... he has the trained eye so...
Anyway, his advice was to simply watch it. It's minor now so... I don't know... what? It'll go away by itself? I doubt that.

Though he didn't advise it, wonder it something like BarsLeak should be used. If so... can I expect it to hold up? Will it gum up anything else? (That's my biggest concern in pouring in some liquid fix; it'll gum something up it shouldn't)

Thoughts?

 

[dana44]

Any time a fluid is leaking, time to get it fixed no matter what. A drip means something is wrong, whether it is simply worn out or old age cracking. It may be a simple hose that is worn out which is easy to fix or tighten, any seal or gasket that is leaking can drain the fluid in a matter of less than a minute when running and then overheat, causing more problems than a simple leak to watch. Take the ten minutes it takes to make the engine drip, turn the engine off and identify exactly where it is coming from with a flashlight. Once you identify where it is really coming from, fix it or have someone else fix it. The ten minutes and the cost of the parts if you do it yourself, or the cost of someone else do it for you is less than ten percent the cost of replacing an overheated engine.

 

[jaygreg]

I appreciate the interest, Dana. I know the optimal repair but that may not be cost effective for a car this old despite the fact it's in good condition. I suspect a radiator repacement requires a lot of disassembly and reassembly. That's big labor charges. What's more, my car has 138,000+ miles on the engine and transmission; a transmission that I'm forever watching closely and expecting to fail from all the complaints I've read. What I'm trying to discover is the affect Bars LEak has upon a 2000 Concorde heating/cooling system so I can decide whether or not I want to consider that as a viable alternative.

 

[dana44]

Again, the leak depends on its location, which is what really needs to be determined. It may be a simple corrosion of a connection, loose hose, or gasket due to corrosion, which does happen. As far as the mileage goes, 138K is not considered high mileage, get to 200K and then you are talking concerns, and if the transmission has gone this long without any signs of problems, it will continue to work much longer. Bars stop leak is not really a good idea for the newer engines, water passages are smaller than they used to be, but believe it or not, simple black pepper by itself works better, it doesn't have the glue, but will fill tight seeps for a whole lot less and won't plug or damage the cores in a radiator. But like I said, the type of leak depends on how well it works and whether the stop leak method is going to work at all, a pinhole from blunt force trauma in a radiator is different from corrosion rust which will continue to spread. I have found that when corrosion of aluminum parts starts, it does not stop on its own, usually a replacement (water pump in your case), is required, the heat and moisture of the fluid continues until it is done. You need to really identify what the leak is to make a good decision on repair, not simply try to cover the problem over and then just hope it doesn't blow all the sudden and strand you somewhere, costing much more than the original repair.

 

[Jeff2KPatriotBlue]

I am with dana44 on this one.

Fix the leak properly, and enjoy another 138 000 miles!

 

[jaygreg]

So.... Bars Leak may negatively affect the engine. My "hammer mechanic" already poured a luminecent liquid into the radiator and used a blck light. (Before I posted here). He determined the radiator leak is so small that I should simply monitor it at this stage. I'm trying to plan for stage 2 in the event "small" becomes "moderate". Then we replace parts.

Glad to hear my car isn't considered high mileage at 138K. I'll stop buying those oil filters specified for high mileage vehicles. Maybe this puppy can be stretched to be my last car. We'll see. It may be in better shape than I am.

About the transmission... I'm gonna' make another thread ("Transmission Bump - Concorde 2000") and would appreciate your comments. Thanks to both of you for your help.

 

[78LilRed]

What engine is in this car? If it's a 3.2 then you may have a failing water pump....for that matter if it's a 2.7 that may be the case as well. Has this car had it's required 100K/7 year service done??

 

[Bob Lincoln]

I would not just 'monitor' a small leak. Prepare for it to become a big one at night when it's below freezing, far from home. I'd fix it now and have another 10 years of peace of mind.