Radiator and Coolant Leak

[TheSalad]

Hey,
My car has basically been sitting for the last two years. Before I left, and during the 2 years, the car hasnt and didnt drip anything, but now that I am back on it a little bit, there started a little coolant leak on the back, between the fire wall and the engine, on the drivers side. The coolant that leaks there is dripping on the L/Ts and also on the front strut bar. I did a PI Headswap, but wanted a few ideas as to what that is.
Also, my coolant was sort of low the last few days, so I decided to top it off. After I did that, there developed a pretty nasty coolant leak that as you look to the front of the car at the radiator, the coolant is coming from the bottom right corner of the radiator, near the drain valve. The car has 105k on it, as well has been in winter driving before I owned it.
Anyway, to fix the radiator leak, what can I do? Just buy a new radiator? Is that install pretty easy? What do I need to do it? How long does it take? Where can I get a decent radiator?
Please someone that has a little experience help me out on this.
Thanks!

I will take some pictures of it tomorrow and see if anyone has any ideas.

 

[sgarlic]

You can get a replacement radiator from radiatorbarn.com for cheap. I've used their radiators on 3 different vehicles, and had great success every time.

Replacing them is pretty straight forward. You open the petcock on the old one, and drain all the coolant out. Then, disconnect the lower and the upper hose and move them out of the way. Unhook the fan electrical connector, and undo the bolts, and lift it up out of there.

Installation is the reverse.. just gotta swap the fan over. You can reuse the coolant you drained if it's in good shape. Be sure to check the level several times before you "call it good," and purge the air bubbles out.

 

[TheSalad]

So, anyone else know what is causing this? I still need to get the car up to take a real good look at it. Is there a fix for it?

 

[Jinx]

If we're talkin' about your '96

If you decide to replace the radiator, check to see if your upper and lower hoses need replacing also. I replaced my moms '95 radiator not to long ago and the lower hose had kinda "baked" onto the waterpump intake. Besides as long as you have it out and drained, it would be good preventative maintenance to put new ones on.

Radiator removal is easy just a couple of screws (and the coolant lines to the tranny if you drive auto) and the whole unit slides up and out.

 

[flexiclese]

you could always go the fast/easy/cheap way and throw a container of "bars" radiator repair in the cooling system, if you're short on cash. I have used this more than once on my old beater cars as a quick fix with good success, it will fix lesser leaks.

But if you're gonna replace the radiator and hoses you might wanna consider replacing the thermostat too while you're at it for a few dollars more. Also make sure too flush your system out before installing a new radiator and hoses.

 

[sgarlic]

Seems pretty obvious that it's all corroded in that area.. the petcock may not have been tight, allowing coolant to slowly seep out, in turn corroding the radiator. 2 years is a long time, but corrosion doesn't take long to get bad once it sets in.

 

[streetstang03]

its prob. about time to replace it anyways on your 96, so you might as well just go w/ a whole new one.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Is that the drain valve right there in the pic? Maybe it is not closed all the way? It probably takes a 1/4" drive without any socket on it to turn. Go check it.