I would suggest that the effects of a hard mount would cause a "shearing/tearing" effect ( Don't believe that is the causation) vs a "pinhole".quote:Originally posted by mike the snake:
Upon inspecting things, i noticed the radiator (Fluidine) is what I would consider "hard-mounted", with mounting tabs from the radiator bolted directly to mounting tabs on the car. No rubber grommets or "soft mounting" that I can see.
I've been driving the car quite a bit since buying it (it's been a week and I've put 4 or 5 tanks of gas through the car), and I've been 45-ing it out of deep parking lots to avoid scraping the front air dam.
I THINK, MAYBE, that my 45-ing it out of parking lots has caused slight flexing/twisting of the chassis, which has in turn done the same to the radiator.
I'm probably overthinking this, and just need to pull the radiator and have it repaired (if possible) or replaced.
I have a friend with a lift, and in a week or so I plan to use the lift to get under the car, clean things up, inspect, and change out the engine (all 10 quarts), coolant (and radiator?) and gearbox oil. I WAS able to find the Castrol Hypoy 80-90 GL5 that RBT recommends, so I bought a gallon of that and plan to use that when I change the gearbox oil.
A "pinhole" leak usually is caused from metal deterioration from INSIDE the radiator working it's way out.
"IF" chassis flexing caused radiator leaks, then ALL our collective DeTomaso Panteras would be leaking like the Exxon Valdez or the Federal Budget...Mark