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Hello all, quick question. I detailed my engine and the bay last weekend, went to add some oil today and noticed it's starting to look like it did before (see thread "Engine Detailing" by me) and the white spots look again to be coming form the right side from the radiator back towards the firewall. All the fluid levels are fine but I do have an oil plug issue (also discussed previously) that I'm waiting for payday to fix but until then, where is this white spotting coming from that is only on the right side of the engine? It's on the airbox, hoses, bellows tube, everything, even the hood itself. Not bad like a massive spray, just spotting like it was sprayed if that makes sense? So once again, this weekend I'll detail the engine and bay but what could be causing this white spotting all on the right side?

It's starting to look like this again

That's coolant. Check your driver-side radiator hose clamp. You probably won't notice a change in your fluid levels for a while if it's a very small leak. But it'll look like a mess after a while - like a sprinkler went off.

DetergentCandy wrote:That's coolant. Check your radiator hose clamps. You probably won't notice a change in your fluid levels for a while if it's a very small leak. But it'll look like a mess after a while - like a sprinkler went off.

Thank you for letting me know.....should the clamps be tight, anything else I should be looking for? Also, why white though and not the usual anti-freeze green?

while you are tightening the clamp, take the oil cap off and see if it is coated in a milky white substance. It's possible you could have a head gasket issue. More likely you don't, but I personally am a bit anal when I see that kind of thing under my hood. your leak could also be a leak between the upper radiator tank and the body of the radiator under the upper hose nipple. That's where my radiator leaked before I replaced it.

g_force58 wrote:while you are tightening the clamp, take the oil cap off and see if it is coated in a milky white substance. It's possible you could have a head gasket issue. More likely you don't, but I personally am a bit anal when I see that kind of thing under my hood. your leak could also be a leak between the upper radiator tank and the body of the radiator under the upper hose nipple. That's where my radiator leaked before I replaced it.

Since I have that oil leak I pop the cap off every few days and last time I did it, it was fine, no milky stuff so I think it's either the clamp or the tank/radiator like you and DetergentCandy had said. I hope it;s the clamp, I can't afford a new rad right now.

Ok, I went on break and checked the oil cap, it's fine and no white stuff on the passenger side of the engine or bay. I circled here in red where it's worst - airbox and the green paint. Yellow where there is some but not all over like the front of the airbox and headlamp. Where it's circled in green, the underside of where the hose attaches, there's a little bit. Also, the bolt on the driver's side of the radiator is missing (you can see it in the pic) and it's wet. So sounds to me like the radiator somewhere on the top is shot but not sure where and I'm not confident enough to tear everything apart to try and find it. Should I decide to try anyway, would some JB weld take care of it til I can get a new rad?

What about the cluster of white spots on the radiator tank, above the rusty looking spot on the crimp?


That bolt that is missing holds the A/C condenser to the radiator. Yo will need to remove the one on the other side, and two that are below. You may need to remove the plastic liner beneath the grill to access those.

Have you let it idle until the t'stat opens, and the fans kick on, to see if it is seeping out anywhere?

Is it possible that a PO sprayed something that etched the affected areas, that simply won't go away with just a little detailing?

If it is seeping, you should be able to smell coolant when the engine is hot, provided there is antifreeze in the system, and not plain water.

occasional demons wrote:What about the cluster of white spots on the radiator tank, above the rusty looking spot on the crimp?


That bolt that is missing holds the A/C condenser to the radiator. Yo will need to remove the one on the other side, and two that are below. You may need to remove the plastic liner beneath the grill to access those.

Have you let it idle until the t'stat opens, and the fans kick on, to see if it is seeping out anywhere?

Is it possible that a PO sprayed something that etched the affected areas, that simply won't go away with just a little detailing?

If it is seeping, you should be able to smell coolant when the engine is hot, provided there is antifreeze in the system, and not plain water.

The cluster of white spots hasn't returned since I cleaned it last weekend.

I will do the idle thing when I get home since I live far I don't want to get stranded with my 2 year old.

What is a PO? I guess something could be etched there that when I cleaned it "disappeared" but has come back the past week.

There is coolant (it is green, no funky coloring) in the overflow tank and I popped the rad cap and the fluid is green in the hose as well but no smell of coolant when I start it, it's running or when I get home or go anywhere that I shut it off and get out of the car. No smell at all actually.

Does this help you to help me at all?

Previous Owner

Other than checking for steam/leaks, it might be something that was there and just won't go away without some elbow grease, or wax of some kind.

occasional demons wrote:Previous Owner

Other than checking for steam/leaks, it might be something that was there and just won't go away without some elbow grease, or wax of some kind.

Ah, gotcha, thanks for explaing that.

So basically I need to get it home, pop the hood and just stand there for a bit while it's running to watch for any leaks and/or steam....correct? Sorry, I just like to be sure of what I need to do so I don't screw something up or have to do it again because it wasn't done right the first time.

So, if I got this right.....if no steam, no leaks, chalk it up to the PO doing something they shouldn't have and all is fine as far as the spotting.....just clean it really, really good next time and keep an eye on the coolant level.

TomsNeon wrote:Also, why white though and not the usual anti-freeze green?

That's just what happens when it evaporates and burns off on a hot engine. I'm sure there's a technical reason behind it

weird. I had the same thing under the hood of my SRT the other day. I know it's leaking a tiny amount of coolant from somewhere (one of the hoses I believe) so that is probably it.

DetergentCandy wrote: That's just what happens when it evaporates and burns off on a hot engine. I'm sure there's a technical reason behind it

The stuff like road salt, or hard water, turns white as the liquid evaporates, and the minerals, whatever else, just become more concentrated, or perhaps condensed as the moisture content decreases. Some stuff that is left to dry becomes concentrated enough to become a mild acid, etching whatever it is in contact with.

Kind of why a heated garage is worse for a car that doesn't get washed in the rust belt areas, The water evaporates every day/night that it is parked, really boosting the salt's effectiveness. Being warm also increases it's power too.

Also, coolant that is past it's prime becomes acidic too. It will make it's own voltage, like a battery. One down and dirty method for checking coolant condition, is with a digital voltmeter. Stick one end on an engine ground at the block, and one in the coolant at the radiator cap. Generally, if it is above one volt, change the coolant.

Bad grounds can actually make this phenomena worse, as the voltage will travel through the coolant charging the "battery". Leaks in heater cores have actually been linked to poor grounds.

Where I am going with this novel, is if the coolant is old enough, it can cause the white spotting, because as it dries, the acidity becomes much higher.

Lots of good info there!

Though it doesn't just depend on the age of the coolant i'm sure. I had some splatters of coolant on my intake pipe shortly after my rebuild because I didn't tighten one of the clamps well enough. And that was fresh fluid.

Thank you all for all your help! I tightened the clamps, cleaned up the engine and bay again and discovered the wetness is where the crimp goes over the top of the plastic tank in the corners facing the headlamps. I put some JB Weld in hopes of a band aid for now and my neighbor said if I can find a good rad at a junk yard, he'd clean the crud out of it so it'd be good to use as long as it doesn't have a leak.

Ok all, update......the JB Weld seemed to "take" in some spots but not all, the drivers side still leaks. The top of the tranny cooler has a puddle of coolant on the top of it in the "dip" if you'd call it that where it slides under the radiator and then you;d put the bolt in. It's not a bad leak, I can live with it for a while but the coolant is now dripping onto the computer plug in below the airbox, the black capped plug. I noticed the cap was broken yesterday meaning it won't snap on top anymore, it lays there unsecured. Now to prevent the coolant shorting out the pcm, how do I "fix" the cap on the black pcm plug? Someone told me to super glue it down and I laughed hard, that would be stupid but I still need to be covered til I can get a rad. ANY ideas?????

My PCM connectors have been broken since the car was totalled in 2007. Hasn't been an issue.

Duct tape something above the PCM to let the coolant roll off of that. A piece of heavy plastic sheet or something.

occasional demons wrote:My PCM connectors have been broken since the car was totalled in 2007. Hasn't been an issue.

Duct tape something above the PCM to let the coolant roll off of that. A piece of heavy plastic sheet or something.

Good idea....next question and yeah, it's probably stupid but how? I didn't see anywhere to fasten anything above the plug itself? Be it tape, a piece of plastic with a zip tie, nothing to attach anything to unless I can't see it without the airbox removed. Suggestions occasional demons?