Would like help confirming source of coolant leak

[Stew]

I've had a small coolant leak for a few months now that I've been putting off looking for. Well I finally got under the car to look around and it looks like it's the radiator but would like others who've had coolant leaks to weigh in.

It looks like it's coming from the drivers side. The only coolant I can find is collecting around the drivers side shipping tie down hook, as in the picture below. This is looking towards the driver side, you can see coolant drops by the tie down on the left, and for reference the bottom drivers side corner of the intercooler is in the upper right corner of the pic.

I have looked up one side and down the other and I am not seeing a trace of coolant anywhere running down hoses, anywhere on the passenger side or anywhere other than around where those drops are. It does not appear to be travelling across that lower support from the passenger side.

What I do see is orange coolant on the driverside end tank where the bars go into the tank as in the pictures below:

So does it look like it's leaking from the drivers side of the radiator to you also? All the hoses are dry all the way around and that is the only area I'm seeing coolant

 

[Tormach]

It definitely looks like its drivers side..

Possible locations i would look into further:
* Hoses from heater core at the firewall and the hose going to the water outlet on the drivers side.
* Coolant surge tank, underside of it.
* All hoses going to and from the water outlet and if the seal is leaking from the side of the block it is connect.
* Could be the radiator, not sure what to look for (haven't run into a cracked radiator). Id also check to see if the radiator drain petc●ck is possibly lose/leaking.
* Any signs of staining and/or puddling on the trans case.
* Lowest hose coming from the water outlet running toward the heat shield and turbo.

Im ruling out water pump and tstat sense they are on passengers side.

Ill look at my engine tomorrow or day after for any other possible locations to check and take pics.. luv this little car but she luv to bleed orange.

 

[Stew]

Hey Tormach thanks for the input. I scoped out the heater hoses pretty good and had my hands all over the reservoir and they all were dry, the trans was too. I'm thinking it has to be the radiator at this point.

Surprisingly manual trans radiators are only $109 at gmpartsdirect.com, I think I'm going to go ahead and order one in the next couple days. And while I'm at it I might as well order the new intake manifold I need and a few other misc parts I've been putting off.

 

[JesusTheAgnostic]

Is the area where the transmission and engine meet stained orange?

 

[Stew]

Not anywhere that I could see. I can't recall another Sonic having a leaking radiator on the forum but that is sure what this looks like. I ordered the radiator this morning so once it arrives and I swap it out we'll know for sure.

I actually just swung into my local dealer who (mostly) price matched gmpartsdirect and had them order all the stuff on my list, they actually had three intake manifolds in stock though which tells you something about how often they must be replacing those bad boys

 

[Stew]

Finally got around to replacing the radiator this morning. I would like to have a word with whomever designed the placement of components and serviceability of these cars... this has to have been the worst car I've ever had to replace the radiator on.

The fan assembly barely came out through the engine compartment and I had to remove the front fascia and all brackets bolted to the upper core support to (barely) get the radiator out through the front. So if you're going to do this yourself give yourself several hours. I was a little surprised that I kept good enough mental track of all the bolts and screws I had to remove because there weren't any left over, yay!

 

[SmoothSonic]

I have a 2014 LTZ 1.4L and it looks like my radiator might be leaking as well. I saw some small puddles of coolant on the plastic below and I'm losing coolant at a rate of 1/2 tank every 1 1/2 weeks. Thanks for this helpful topic since it'll help me pinpoint the problem. I might take mine to my mechanic though.

 

[Maddmatts]

A few spots I know that can leak on the radiator not yet mentioned:
The secondary coolant temp sensor O-ring. The sensor is on the bottom-passenger side of the radiator right below the lower hose connection.

Upper and lower radiator hoses can leak at their connections if they're expanding/ballooning as the cooling system pressurizes.