Fluid leak

DJWOODS2017

MEMBER
1998 OLDSMOBILE INTRIGUE
3.8L
V6
FWD
179,065 MILES

I had driven my car Saturday evening over to a friends house. Yesterday morning I noticed a puddle of fluid in my garage that had leaked over night from my vehicle. When I looked underneath, the leak was coming from the front passenger side area. I placed an oil pan underneath afterwards and when I got home today to check again the pan was almost full. The fluid looks like a brownish red color.

Just wanted to see if someone had any idea on where this leak is coming from or what this could be?

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1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,741 POSTS

Most likely that is the red Dex-Cool antifreeze and it is leaking from the heater core. Look under the hood, on the front of the firewall, passenger side, for a four inch long rubber hose with a ninety degree bend in it hanging down. If that is where it is dripping from, that is the drain hose for the humidity that condenses out of the air when the AC system is running.

GM advertised this as "lifetime" coolant to make the cost of their regular maintenance appear to be lower than that of their competitors, but then they put a sticker on the reservoir that says to change it every three years. Even the Dex-Cool company says to replace it every two years because that is when the additives in it wear out. When it is not changed often enough, acids build up in it that attack metal parts, most commonly the radiator and the heater core.

The heater hoses also go into the firewall in the same area. Check those for dry-rotting and for loose or rusted hose clamps.