Car leaked antifreeze all over pavement

TRACIJOHNSON

MEMBER
1991 PONTIAC SUNBIRD
2.0L
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
183,000 MILES

I left the car to warm up this morning.20 minutes or so. When I got out to leave there was anti-freeze all over the pavement. My husband thinks it could be the thermostat. He also told me that thermostat was in the radiator and all I had to do was swap them out. Well, I looked this up and it's just a TAD more complicated than that! So. Should I try and get someone to replace my thermostat or put in radiator stop-leak?

:)

3 Replies

SATURNTECH9

MECHANIC
30,869 POSTS

I need a couple questions answered where did the coolant leak from? Also how hot did the temp go higher then normal? Also I don't recommend stop leak I have seen it plug up heater cores etc. You could just have a leak and nothing to do with the thermostat we need to do some digging before we make that decision.

SPONSORED LINKS

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Tuesday, November 18th, 2014 AT 8:44 AM

TRACIJOHNSON

MEMBER
2 POSTS

At the bottom of the radiator (right below the cap) there was a pool of antifreeze. The temp did NOT go past the first mark. I drove the 20 miles to my job and it registered below the 1st mark. When I got into town.I had to stop at a stop light and it started going past the 1st mark for the first time.

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Tuesday, November 18th, 2014 AT 8:56 AM

SATURNTECH9

MECHANIC
30,869 POSTS

So was it coming out of the cap or the radiator itself? Also you could just have a bad radiator cap allowing the coolant to leak out because the cap no longer holds the correct pressure.

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Tuesday, November 18th, 2014 AT 6:16 PM