but.....while refilling my coolent (for the 2nd time this month...yes, there is a leak somewhere...) I noticed the hose is collapsed in one area! WIERD! Wasn't like that before...just wanted reassurance that this means I need to replace it? Could this be the reason for the leak?
yes if the hose is collapsed it needs replaced. but not necessarily the source of the leak. are there any puddles under the car? you might need to get your hands dirty: when the car is cold rub your hand around all the hoses and look for coolant, also you'll need to look at the water pump for coolant leaking out the weep hole
Our radiators are known to have issues. most are on the passenger side. Seems the Alum and plastic tend to expand at different rates and hence the leak.
I have more "refills" on the coolant bottle in the Summer...come Fall the problem goes away... Go fish on that one... Mines done it since the day I owned in...that was 98 and it still works and cools just fine...just annoying mostly. I keep tabs on mine so I normally will catch it before the low coolant light.
Thank you all for being so kind with your replies. I've been on other forums that treat me like I know nothing. I admit when I don't know about things but I like to think that I know a pretty good amount of stuff about Mustangs/cars.
It's the upper radiator hose and I looked yesterday and the drips are coming from the passenger side near the front of the car. I noticed that there was (or maybe still is) a leak from the upper radiator hose where it connects in the front. There is another weak portion of the hose so I"ll make note to replace it come payday (this weekend). Doesn't look too hard to replace. (?)
Andy (RIO5.0) very well could be right, as his info is always spot-on.
Sometimes you can actually see a leak drip once the car is up to temp (and the system is pressurized). You have to be very careful of hot coolant and burning yourself (people have scalded themselves before).
However, if you have access to a cooling system pressure tester, throw it on and see (and hear - the beauty here is that the car is off and the engine can be cold, so you can feel around) where the leak is coming from. It's real obvious if you have this tool. They're under 100 bucks to buy, and some folks have reported that better parts stores have one to be 'loaned out' (for free after you return it).
That said, if you have doubts about hoses, it's always good to replace them. And if you need to replace the radiator, you'd wanna replace all the hoses you can anyways (that way you can more or less forget about it for a couple years).
If you have a telescoping mirror, look at the bottom of the end of the upper radiator hose (where it attaches to the radiator bung). If you see a stain, that suggests this is a leak source (the hose connection itself, or less likely, the bung). For the former issue, the hoses get vulcanize and the clamps create a crimp point, so a fresh hose is often the solution. The upper hose is about 20 bucks from Autozone around here.
You'll lose a little coolant but otherwise it takes like 5 minutes (even for a novice) to replace the upper hose. Note that you might need to carefully cut or pry the old hose off (they kinda melt to the bung they're attached to). That's the toughest part of the task.
And welcome to StangNet! We take pride in being as helpful as we can, unlike whatever forums you've been to before. As long as you are willing to learn, you'll find someone here to help you out.
Another place to look is the very top of the overflow bottle. Our design likes to crack up near the top where the bolt mounts to the metal bracket. The water will evaporate like crazy through this crack. I used to find my check coolant light on every couple of days due to this issue.