2 days ago when I was waiting to get my new tires installed, I noticed a small pool/drops of coolant directly below the lower radiator hose. Over the course of the last 2 days when I first noticed it, I lost about 3"+ of fluid in the overflow tank and about the same when I checked after we got home from the mountain yesterday (and filling the nearly empty overflow back up just below the line). I took it by a shop and they got 15 lbs after letting it cool down by way of pressure testing the radiator. Although I haven't gotten Darth up in the air to check it out, anyone have any ideas? The shop got another 1.5 turns on the lower hose clamp and said the cap could be the culprit? Does that even make sense? Could the radiator have a small crack developing or could the lower hose have micro-cracking?

There is some kind of metal fitting near the lower hose tucked up above the plastic skid plate (also has a bolt hole relief in the skid plate) which is what the fluid was all over. What is this piece and could it be the issue? I assume the radiator isn't a terribly hard replacement, but is there a write up, step by step, or how-to anyone can link? Although I have done a lot of repairs, I have never installed a radiator and it kind of freaks me out being how important the cooling system is! Any help is greatly appreciated guys!

Free

 

I have a 2000crv. Your situation sounds like one we had. Twice. The radiator on the crv has a PLASTIC HOSE..excuse my lack of technical terminology. Anyway, that piece is hard connected to the radiator so when it crack or leaks, you need to replace the radiator. Pay close attention to that plastic piece. We went through a fair amoun of time before we actually located it. But hey, maybe its just an hose.

 

I have a 2000crv. Your situation sounds like one we had. Twice. The radiator on the crv has a PLASTIC HOSE..excuse my lack of technical terminology. Anyway, that piece is hard connected to the radiator so when it crack or leaks, you need to replace the radiator. Pay close attention to that plastic piece. We went through a fair amoun of time before we actually located it. But hey, maybe its just an hose.. Its all the way at the bottom of the radiator.

 

https://youtu.be/n3ZkDzQjldU

 

Thanks for the link Andy it looks like a piece of cake! But I don;t want to have to go through all that time of replacing the radiator if its not the actual issue. Check out these photos and please let me know what you guys think the leak is stemming from. There is a lot of coolant pooled up and sitting on the lower hard line there where I put the arrow, but there is also some collecting on the bottom pass. indicate by the circle and arrow.

Free

 

I will do this if I were you ... try to clean everything that you see down there ( I mean completely clean ) . After that , turn on the engine and wait the temp goes up to normal temp ( maybe a few REV ? ) then go crawl down again and check if there is any leaks and trace it ?

 

Has it been particularly cold lately where you live FreeFallin? My '01 CR-V has the original radiator in it at 148k miles, and while 99% of the time it doesn't leak, I noticed 2 winters ago while the Mid-Atlantic was experiencing our Polar Vortex that I would find coolant pooling around the seams where the aluminum core meets the plastic tanks. I checked it on a number of different days and noticed that it only seemed to happen when the temps were about 10F and below. At any temp above 10F the pooling wouldn't occur. Best I can tell, this is due to different contraction rates between the aluminum core and the plastic tanks. After nearly 3 years of this condition the radiator still doesn't drip a drop unless it's at that magical (and miserable) temperature. As M-benz suggests above, it's logical to warm the system until it reaches maximum pressure and then check for leaks, but at least in my condition warmth and pressure is what masks the leak condition so consider ambient conditions as well.

 

Yes, that is crazy but sounds like it could potentially be my issue. We bought and were driving the car around fora few days before the snow and colder weather came in. Its been right about 30* out, but has gotten down to like 15 a couple of times.

Free

 

I'd keep an eye on your coolant level and see if it's dropping more over night or throughout the day. The tell for me was I'd find coolant in my driveway (after an overnight) but not in my work parking lot (after an 8a-5p). I started shopping the 2-row all-aluminum jobbies you can buy on Ebay for $130-$150 bucks and plan to buy one if/when the radiator finally ***** the bed. I was wary about their quality, since most come from China, but I wound up buying one for a Miata that I owned previously and the quality and fitment were both very good. A few Miata friends trusted their cars to these radiators as well and all had similar experiences. The all-aluminum option eliminates this condition since the whole unit has the same thermal expansion rate. Plus...aluminum tank 2-row radiators are really cool looking! I mean...come on.

 

Just had the radiator replaced at my local muffler and brake shop. Orig. radiator was barely micro cracked where the bottom plastic meets the metal.

Now just have to figure out this weird whining noise I have another post for and she will be ready to cleanup and save for Bilsteins & OME!

Free

 

Sounds like that's taken care of then!

I was really tempted to go that route with the Bilsteins and OME springs, but I worry about the longevity of the suspension components and axles after the lift. I know OME says they make their lift springs to such a height that nothing else needs to be modified (aside from the alignment of course), but I doubt they installed them and drove a CR-V for 60k miles...just to be sure. I posted a thread on here a few months ago asking people who'd lifted their Gen. 1's to report about their long-term reliability impacts...if any, but no one replied. Fargin sneaky bastages.

 

I share the same concern. I may just go with a leveling kit for the rear and Bilsteins after all. I DO NOT want to degrade the factory bushings because of a lift, but I also want a good shock & spring setup.

Free

 

I think when the time comes I'll still go with the Bilstein shocks, I may just reuse the stock springs. Automotive suspension springs wear very little...when they aren't found in the rear of a Taurus or the front of a Focus.