Leaking coolant and power steering fluid?

1999 MERCEDES BENZ ML320
140,000 MILES • 6 CYL • 4WD • AUTOMATIC
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CEPHID
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
I had not driven this car in 3 weeks. Upon starting and bringing up to temperature noted leaking coolant and slight power steering fluid on driver’s side of radiator. I watched your video on radiator replacement and noticed how clean your job was. Did you drain any fluids prior to removing the hoses or is that how little is lost when hoses removed? I expected more loss when the lower radiator hose was removed, but yours was minimal/acceptable. I’m going check the integrity of the hoses once more before disassembling but I was curious about fluid drainage prior to this work. Clean and informative job!! A response would be appreciated. Thanks, Gary
Dec 2, 2022 at 7:58 AM
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RYAN L
  • AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR CONTRIBUTOR
  • 269 POSTS
Hey Gary!

First off, thank you so much for watching and using the site!

Secondly, that video was filmed a long time ago. I am unsure if we drained it beforehand. However, if I were replacing a radiator, I would drain the coolant no matter what anyways. Otherwise, you are going to have a big mess once you take the lower hose off. Sometimes you have no choice but to remove a lower radiator hose as some cars do not have a coolant drain anywhere.

Best,
Ryan
Dec 2, 2022 at 10:38 AM
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