Mr Fix-It and I have been working for several weeks on a mystery coolant leak in a Chrysler Minivan.....the van has been losing coolant but the customers have been unable to explain when and where the coolant is making its grand exodus from the system.....the customers are elderly and pretty clueless when it comes to anything mechanical. Mr. Fix-It has asked them to check the level of the overflow bucket because it was losing some coolant and he did not want it to overheat...they called in a panic wondering why the windshield was covered in an oily substance....they had filled the windshield fluid bucket with antifreeze! The antifreeze was dripping everywhere....the side view mirrors were covered, it was in the door moldings, down the entire sides of the van.
The reason we could not pinpoint the leak was because the customers kept filling up the radiator but not using a funnel, and all the coolant was filling the k-member and was leaking randomly depending on how and where the van was parked. We finally found the leak....the van had been overheated so badly that the side tanks, which are plastic let go ...we replaced with an OEM radiator and so far so good. We have asked the customer NOT to open the hood if they need anything checked to please come and we will do it for them. It was a real challenge trying to clean out the windshield washer bucket which was filled with antifreeze.
