Have you ever started your car to find the ‘Low Coolant’ light come on or discovered a large pool of coolant under your vehicle? Have you been driving down the road and noticed the ‘Check Engine’ light come on?
If you have, you know what a hassle it is. Running low on coolant is at the very least an inconvenience, and in extreme cases, it can damage your engine and result in high repair costs. It’s important to frequently inspect your vehicle for coolant problems and make sure you stop them as soon as they start. There are several ways to fix an antifreeze leak in your car, but you have to start by identifying the source of the leak.
Antifreeze can leak from your car:
- At the radiator: The most common source of leaks is your radiator itself. Many modern radiators have an aluminum core (the tubes and fins) and crimped-on plastic tanks. Older vehicles may have welded aluminum tanks, while even older cars might have a copper radiator. In all cases, a leak can occur at any of the joints in the radiator itself or where the tanks connect to the radiator.
- At the reservoir and hoses: Antifreeze leaks are also common at the various connections between your rubber hoses and the engine, antifreeze reservoir, heater core, thermostat housing or radiator. Over time, hoses can get hard and brittle, and clamps can loosen slightly, allowing antifreeze to leak out. Some of these are easy to inspect, while others are difficult to access and inspect from under the hood.
- At the head gasket: This is one of the most troubling locations for an antifreeze leak. Often when a cylinder head gasket leak starts, it’s not long before you have major coolant loss. And while it’s bad enough if the coolant leaks outside of your engine, if it leaks inside, you will see a reduction in power, increased emissions and the potential for major engine damage due to mixing oil and coolant.
Once you’ve identified the source of your antifreeze leak, you’ll be glad to know that the hard work is done! All that’s left is to choose the right Bar’s Leak product for your type of leak. We have proven chemical formulations specifically formulated for all the possible antifreeze leak situations under your hood:
- Cooling System Repair, to take care of all general cooling system leaks
- Radiator Stop Leak Concentrate, designed as a fast, long-term solution to radiator leaks
- Radiator Stop Leak Tablets, convenient, clean, easy-to-use stop leak in tablet form
- Liquid Aluminum, designed with your aluminum radiator and heater core in mind
- Liquid Copper, perfect for older vehicles that use a traditional copper radiator
- Powder Radiator Stop Leak and Conditioner, for repairing AND conditioning your rad
With these and other Bar’s Leaks products available to you, fixing your car’s antifreeze leak is a cinch. We’ve been making ‘3-minute mechanics’ out of customers for 69 years, and we can make one out of you, too! Order your Bar’s Leaks antifreeze leak solution today, and you’ll be ready at a moment’s notice to take care of any antifreeze leak that sneaks up on you.
