Oil leak at the bottom of the radiator

[mirrabucca]

1. If the cooler inside the radiator is leaking, trans fluid will leak into the water/coolant. Not out to the engine bay. This is a Ford issue that doesn't seem to affect Holdens.
2. My VX has had one replacement radiator. I screwed up when replacing the battery and leant on the top radiator hose. That caused a leak in the radiator core. That was many years ago. If I was more careful the car would still have the original radiator.
Has your car got an auxilliary cooler?

 

[Commy_fan]

Yes, it does. The leaking oil oozing out at the bottom of the radiator. Obviously, it is from the broken horizontal coolers inside the radiator. This type of leaking will affect all cars fitted with radiator carrying the transmission coolers.
I would love to have the original radiator if it does not leak after 25 years of driving. It would be quite normal to have a radiator like that to fail after enduring wear and tear in harsh environment for such long period of time.

 

[Commy_fan]

I have actually ignored the thin film of oil found under the radiator cap a year ago. That is a warning sign. The symptom has lead to a total blow out of the radiator causing massive oil & coolant leak which appeared on the bottom half of the radiator.

 

[vxcalais_01]

I have actually ignored the thin film of oil found under the radiator cap a year ago. That is a warning sign. The symptom has lead to a total blow out of the radiator causing massive oil & coolant leak which appeared on the bottom half of the radiator.

The oil under radiator cap could be the LIM gasket that has blown. If trans fluid leaking into the radiator it would still be reddish with all the dye in it. Unfortunately you cant use stop leak for radiators like you can for the cooler core. Just replace the radiator. Decent prices on the bay these days.

 

[krusing]

I tipping its the Trans Pipe fitting/s on the radiator cooler.
The Trans pipe nuts have flat washer type seals, and are easerly lost if not carefully removed after disconnecting the trans pipes,
I know, as it took ages to find the one I lost, as it was still on the end of the pipe when I disconnected it, and didn’t notice it, and I guess I flicked the pipe and it flew off the end of the pipe.
The other one was still in the radiator fitting.
(They look like a standard washer, but with green or black gasket material on both sides)
“Unless those seals are in place, the pipes/fitting will leak”

The other position I did notice a leak, is on the small rubber hoses at bottom on the drivers side for the power steering cooler (that located on front of the condenser), as they usually just need to be disconnected and trimmed say 10mm, re-fitted and done up tight,
And well degrease the area in question.

As mentioned above, if the trans oil was leaking in the radiator, you would have a red milkshake as coolant in the radiator.
And you transmission would be faulting, so I’m tipping the Red oil leak is external of the radiator.

Tip: If the oil is leaking from the coolant pipe fitting and you may have lost one of the pipe seals, you can use a small o-ring over the end of the pipe in the interim till you can source the correct washer type seal

As a side note,
depending on the k’s and age of the car, and colour of coolant, I’d be looking at replacing the LIM gaskets as another member mentioned in a comment above.

 

[Commy_fan]

I have tried to attach the photo showing the oil leaking out the bottom of the radiator without success as it is too large. Before the radiator being replaced, the car has experienced gear shift slippage (1-2). Without knowing the transmission fluid is losing at the time, I was wondering it could be caused by the tyre or the transmission gear. After the radiator has been replaced and lost fluid topped up, the slippage has disappeared.
The LIM gasket has actually been replaced a couple of years ago and I would not expect it could fail. With the new radiator, I can go on to fix other problems.

 

[vc commodore]

Judging by your comments, the oil leak you speak of was the transmission lines...Nothing to do with coolant loss or anything else ....

So it's all fixed, which is a bonus

 

[Commy_fan]

When I saw a large area of radiator fin covered with reddish oil, I immediately judged the internal cooler line was broken. I did not relate the problem with others such as LIM or head gasket. Hopefully, this will solve the problem. Just have to wait and see.

 

[vc commodore]

When I saw a large area of radiator fin covered with reddish oil, I immediately judged the internal cooler line was broken. I did not relate the problem with others such as LIM or head gasket. Hopefully, this will solve the problem. Just have to wait and see.

LIM gaskets/head gasket problems have symptoms of getting hot and loosing coolant....

Seeing as you only had the red oil and a slipping gearbox, refilling the lost trans fluid and fixing the leak points to fixing the issue.

 

[Commy_fan]

With the new radiator, no more oil leaks and no first gear shift slips. Hopefully it will solve the problem.