So my zed decided it was going to dump the entire contents of its radiator today while I was at work. I came back to my car several hours later to find a nice big puddle under it, and fluid still dripping from the under body guard. Suspecting a split radiator hose (and hoping it wasn't the radiator), I filled it back up with water and limped it over to Ultratune at Hamilton, being one of the only options for mechanics nearby. They stuck it up on the hoist and spent about 30 - 45 minutes checking it out, and could find no further evidence of leaking - no drips, even when hot. They also ran pressure tests on the cooling system and still found nothing obvious. They suspect it was due to a faulty radiator cap, not managing the return flow of fluid properly. So, after fitting a new radiator cap, topping up my power steering reservoir at my request, and adding in labour, they billed me for a grand total of ...... $40. Gotta be happy about that It seems to have survived the ~1 hour drive home without any problems, so will keep an eye on it for a couple of days. If all is well, I will flush the radiator out and put some proper coolant back in there.
Fantastic, hopefully it was just the cap. I worked on a Z32 once that had a cracked radiator overflow bottle. The owner told me that they had an on / off leak. Old clamps, old hoses, old water pumps with ageing gaskets are a main cause for coolant leaks. Check regularly under the hood especially with a 20+ year old car that loves to run hot.
If it happens again you will find the radiator cap neck is worn from age where the little tabs hook under. You can crimp the cap tabs a little bit tighter with multi grips but a new radiator is the best way to go.
