Heating problem uncovered and turned to an antifreeze leak
 

(Sometimes I'm retarted when it comes to choosing which section to put my threads in, sorry ;) if this is wrong you can move it)

OK, long story short, remember when I said my car ran a little hot? Well I got her flushed out by my buddy mechanic and we found that it didn't even have a thermostat!! We threw a stock one in but he reminded me that it is possible they might have cut it out to reduce pressure to hide a water leak. Well, sure enough, the car runs much cooler and more stable, BUT everytime I turn it off and let it sit for awhile a little pool of antifreeze is directly underneath the driver's side of the radiator. This sucks and kinda scares me ... Not really sure what to do ... or how careful to be ...

The leak looks like its dripping straight from the radiator but I'm not sure at all ... I can barely see under my car.

Funny side note about this, I was driving it around today to get her warmed up so I can see how bad the leak is and I got pulled over for not having a front plate. The cop walks up, tells me I should order one or buy one from shucks, then continues to talk about his 1995 Trans Am that he just dropped a new LT1 in. Haha, we talked for like 15 mins about our cars and he told me that his car has the same antifreeze leak and told me its not a big deal. Anyway, any advice ... You think my mechanic can find the leak somewhat easily? ... Anything will help here. :) Thanks guys.

UV kit should be able to identify new leak without too much trouble..

Other than that I would just check all your hose connections. Don't bother with any of the "leak stop" stuff for your radiator, all they do is plug up your motor and rad and maybe slow down a leak.

I would keep an out on ebay for a used rad or if you can afford it get a new one. You can get an aftermarket one to work if you are a little handy without too much trouble and more importantly it will also cool the car more efficiently.

when i brought my car it too had a leak on the psngr side...turns out that it couldnt be repaired so i had to spend 150 to get a new 1.....If i were u i would take out the radiator and see were the leak is coming from.if it can repaired good if not,do what i did!

good luck

Okay thanks guys ... good advice ...

So, worse news ... I just went out to my car to check the antifreeze reservior and the level under the radiator cap. The reservior water level barely reached the measuring stick, which is way below the cold level ... and I couldn't even see or feel anything when I took the cap off. A pretty big pool was underneath my car too ... Arg ... Anymore advice? I live a 1 hour and 30 minute drive away from my mechanic in Spokane (Im in Pullman, WA right now) ... You think if I filled it up agian and ran it over there it would be okay? ... I mean, i made it here from Spokane after installing the thermostat, but last time I drove it, it didn't loose as much fluid.

Its obviously hard to say if you can make it since I can't see how fast its leaking once the car is running. Worse case would be to take the thermo back out to reduce the pressure slightly like before and try to make the drive home with lots of h2o and anitfreeze with you to keep filling along the way.

I would fill it, go out for a 20 minute drive and check how much is goes down and judge how much you need from that. Keep in mind though that the leak is only going to get worse, I would hate to see it totally leak on the way home and leave you stranded. Sounds like its something that needs attention right away!!

if ur tryin to get it to a mechanic another suggestion would be to buy some sort of radiator seal or block from autozone and as long as u dont run the car hard u should be able to make it without it leaking. That is if it isnt a big hole then ur just screwed (lmao)