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Torque Shop: An old car’s leaky problems
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A worker installing radiator parts in a Daihatsu plant in Jakarta. Radiators and associated hoses may develop minute leaks over time.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Shreejit Changaroth
I sent my car to the workshop when it started flashing “Engine Temp Rising” warnings. The workshop found a small leak in a coolant branch tube. Although my car has only one year left before its certificate of entitlement expires, I decided to replace the faulty part. A few days after the replacement, a low-coolant warning came on. Within seconds, a red warning flashed, telling me to stop and switch off the engine immediately. Is this related to the earlier leak or is it more likely a workmanship issue?
Small leaks are hard to detect because the coolant coming out evaporates almost immediately. When your engine is switched off, there is no pressure in the cooling system and the coolant may not leak and therefore you may not detect any pooling on the floor.
