Not unusual. The side tanks are plastic and the radiator itself is brass. This is very typical on most cars made now, although aluminum has replaced brass in common use. There is a flexible seal where the tanks are crimped on. As the radiator heats and cools the seal can sometimes leak since the plastic and brass expand differently and the seal is getting pretty old. Ultimately you'll need a new radiator but this can go on for a long time. When the car is cool there is no pressure in the system, so it tends not to leak. When hot there is pressure, but the heat helps the side tank seal work. As it heats up or cools off, you get times of high pressure and low temperature and it leaks. This is more common in cold weather too. All replacement radiators available now have tanks brazed on to the radiator part. Dave S --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "daviddelorean" <daviddelorean@...> wrote: > > For the past year I've had a leak in my radiator. I've determined the > radiator is leaking where the side tanks are connected to the radiator. > > Here's what's strange. I only leaks sometimes and at different leakage > amounts. Sometimes it doesn't leak at all, most times it is just a > slight drip, and very rarely (and what happened today after a 5 mile > quick trip) the floor of my garage looks like niagra falls dumped on it. > > Can anyone explain this? > ------------------------------------ To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnewsYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:dmcnews-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:dmcnews-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/