Coolant leak Issues

[Masonisking]

Hey guys,

I purchased a 2012 tahoe about 8 months ago, and have had one of the worst car experiences from the lifters getting stuck, to a constant check engine light from the phazer sensor. The other day i was on my way home and in some traffic, and noticed my radiator fans kick on and could hear them inside. The temp on the gauge rose a little, but not anything i was worried about. I have been noticing them a little more, and today had it tell me the engine was hot (Not all the way to 260) which i stopped and it cooled down, luckily i was only about a mile from home.

Once i got home, i let it cool to check the coolant and realized it was nearly if not empty. So i went and purchased some more, filled it up. And was beginning to bleed the system, when i noticed all my coolant was now on the ground. So i shut the car off, the leak stoped. However, Im not sure where its coming from. It seems to be under the radiator on the passenger side. I cant see it from the top, and i recorded underneath and couldnt see anything either. I will attach the video shortly. What do you guys think could be the issue?

thanks!

 

[Fless]

Post your video to a host site like YouTube and share the link here; TYF can't host videos.

 

[Masonisking]

- Not sure why it uploaded shorts. Top of screen is the passenger side, where the leak seems to come from.

 

[Doubeleive]

FOUND your phazer

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Universe-Original-Classic/dp/B09RQB1HKD

 

[mikez71]

Good time to throw in a new radiator and hoses. Definately seems like it's leaking up front!

 

[j91z28d1]

how many miles are on this thing? do you do any of your own mechanic work?

cause it's probably about time for a full cooling system rebuild. there's some plastic T's up at the firewall that usually fail first, but looks like yours is something else. but no matter. the T's will go soon anyways.

replace T's, factory oem only. there's some metal Dorman stuff, but it doesn't seem as clean of an install. radiator (denso only I believe) water pump, oem or millings and only a oem t stat. I personally don't trust Motorrad brand, and oem is the same price and all the hoses. all the part numbers and how to's are around here somewhere.

just do it all at once and be done with it.. I say this and people seem to not agree, but I've been around a lot of vehicles over the years and I've never been around a vehicle that has a timer like these.. it's crazy how common it is for parts to fail like clock work. you hit the age and or milage and ding, timer goes off.

as you search around and see when guys are changing things, start planning so that when yours hits that you're ready for it.

I did the full colling system right after I got mine, wanted to avoid the over heating since it's mainly the wife's daily. didnt need that hassle.


check you're motor. mounts, if you haven't done them they are probably bad and if you have the rear air bag/mag ride those shocks will be leaking soon.

At least you got the lifters out of the way early? try to get a new torque converter soon as you can afford to if only 100k.

 

[solli5pack]

Double check all your hoses but I'm guessing it's probably leaking from one of the seams on the Radiator..pretty common failure point. As stated in a previous post, never a bad idea to replace everything on a high mileage coolant system.

 

[Fless]

That's a large leak and shouldn't be that difficult to find. You might pull the fan assembly out to get a better view of the radiator and the connections.

 

[petethepug]

The mystery leaks come from the high pressure areas where it instantly vaporizes and only leaves behind a powder residue.

Replace the coolant overflow reservoir as well as the radiator. The end tanks of the radiator and coolant reservoir tank only leak / mist away coolant when it’s almost ready to go into critical overheat and cause damage.

On our 08 YXL it broke in this order…

* Crack in coolant reservoir.
* Crack in radiator end tank.
* Broken heater hose T.
* Accessory belt tensioner fail.

All of the above can total a $7k engine in less than 10 minutes. Recommend using only the green Gates accessory belt kit and OEM coolant hose T’s. Order them early off Rock Auto because when you need them they’re usually not available locally unless a dealer conveniently has the tees for $100 ea.

 

[Masonisking]

Alright, I did a little more digging and iv found the issue. Ended up being a large crack in the plastic of the radiator on the driver side and was bring blown to the passenger side it looked like. It is now holding coolant, but i have the traction control and sabiltrak errors now, any ideas on fixing that?

 

[Geotrash]

Alright, I did a little more digging and iv found the issue. Ended up being a large crack in the plastic of the radiator on the driver side and was bring blown to the passenger side it looked like. It is now holding coolant, but i have the traction control and sabiltrak errors now, any ideas on fixing that?

Those errors can be triggered if the computer thinks the engine isn't running right. Happened to me when I failing fuel pressure regulator (attached to the fuel pump in the tank) causing intermittently high fuel pressures at the rail. New fuel pump cured it in my case at 210K, but I suspect a cam phaser problem would also result in the same codes because the stability control system requires the engine to be running within known paramters to remain engaged. You didn't disconnect the steering shaft in any of your repairs, did you?

 

[petethepug]

Front wheel bearings like to play games with that code as well as (hidden) internally rotten -/+ battery cables that create random trouble codes.

Start with the cables as the age of the truck dictates they should be replaced.

CARRY TWO JUGS OF WATER WITH YOU 24/7 UNTIL THE RADIATOR IS REPLACED.

DO NOT add any type of stop leak to the system as you’ll never get it all out and regret the after affects.

 

[Masonisking]

Those errors can be triggered if the computer thinks the engine isn't running right. Happened to me when I failing fuel pressure regulator (attached to the fuel pump in the tank) causing intermittently high fuel pressures at the rail. New fuel pump cured it in my case at 210K, but I suspect a cam phaser problem would also result in the same codes because the stability control system requires the engine to be running within known paramters to remain engaged. You didn't disconnect the steering shaft in any of your repairs, did you?

I did not, where would those be i could have bumped on unintentionally. I initially had these same errors when the lifters went bad however they have since been fixed. I replaced the radiator and have the errors. There’s no issue driving it, it’s not misfiring , not overheating. Just those lights on the dash.

 

[89Suburban]

Is the engine light on? If so do you have a code reader?

 

[Masonisking]

Not sure why it replied twice.

 

[Masonisking]

Is the engine light on? If so do you have a code reader?

It is, i haven’t read it yet. But it was in previously because the phaser i plan to read it will update once i have.

 

[Doubeleive]

Front wheel bearings like to play games with that code as well as (hidden) internally rotten -/+ battery cables that create random trouble codes.

Start with the cables as the age of the truck dictates they should be replaced.

CARRY TWO JUGS OF WATER WITH YOU 24/7 UNTIL THE RADIATOR IS REPLACED.

DO NOT add any type of stop leak to the system as you’ll never get it all out and regret the after affects.

eh, I don't think 10 jugs of water would have got him very far with a leak that bad, lol

 

[Masonisking]

ended up being the MAF sensor wasn’t seated fully. thanks for all the help !

 

[petethepug]

Cool! Best worst case scenario.

 

[Masonisking]

Alright guys, back with a new seems to be leak. Not as bad this time. Iv been smelling coolant so i decided to look and it looks like it’s coming where the coolant goes into the engine and to the radiator (not sure of the term) iv attached pics of where it seems to be dripping from.