EDIT 26/02/13: Picked the car up from the mechanic this afternoon, the new radiator is some sort of high-end type, and I'm not getting any more coolant leaks. Only issue however is limp mode. I thought mending the cooling system would prevent it (as my trans was getting hot as a result), but not 5km drive from the shop, it locked to third again. I wasn't losing any coolant, and the only leak was a power steering leak. I decided to manually shift between gears, and oddly enough, it didn't lock. Would this be the S5 solenoid, or something else? This is the last real issue I need to deal with.

tl;dr: got new radiator, car STILL goes into limp home mode with no coolant loss, DOESN'T enter limp home mode when gears are shifted manually. Temperature sits at 'L' until locking, at which point will rise to over M (cools down when stopped or coasting down a hill.) Need to know whether it is the S5 solenoid or something else.

Friend thrashed my car ('97 El Fairmont) non-stop one night while cold, and it's just been one problem after another since then. I've recently found ANOTHER issue that is ramping up the temperature of my car, and especially my transmission (normally sits on 'L', has been rising to 'R' and above.) A small pinhole (it seems) leak has developed, which rapidly drains my coolant and prevents me from driving more than 20km or so. I need to drive a 100km trip tomorrow, which is impossible with the car right now.

I need to know if there are any sort of 'quick fixes' such as a sealant or something similar. Below is a photo I took half an hour ago after switching the car off. The coolant is spewing from there. Any help is highly appreciated.

Last edited by xELFalconx on Tue Feb 26, 2013 7:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.

put the radiator cap only on half way (the cap 'clicks' twice when it fully done up) so the system doesn't build up full pressure

Carry plenty of bottles of water with you

maybe try some Permatex ultra grey sealer on it.

Cheers, I'll head out tomorrow morning and see if I can track down some of that sealer. Not sure if it'll work, but I'll try anything right now.

Drill a small hole, srew in a selftapping screw, preferably Stainless steel, with silicon on the thread. should hold you for a while. You will need to do this with the radiator dry and let the silicon go off before you fill with water or pressurise the system.

And get a new radiatior.

I've booked the car in today and getting a new radiator installed. I figure that's the best way to prevent any future problems. I've had to put the trip on hold for now.

hope you learned something here,dont let anybody drive your car.

I remember watching the bush tucker man years ago on tv. He got a small hole in the radiator, he sprinkled pepper into the radiator and it stopped the leak for a while. Till he drove past a car battery on a bush track. He cracked it open and took out the lead cells. Then made a fire and melted the lead in a discarded kingswood hub cap. Then made a seal with the lead. He had taken out the whole radiator I should add.

I would buy a recon and install it myself, though a new one would last you ages. Good luck mate.

Cheers everyone. The car should be back on the road by tomorrow night if all goes well. I hope this fixes my issues, as I had a welch plug go before this (same guy, since been fixed), and it's been about 6 months of constant temperature gauge watching haha. It'll be a relief to not have to worry about it anymore.



Yeah, nobody is touching the car again. It seems I'm the only person who actually knows how to drive it.

Your mate drive a Holden?

If the head gasket goes, tell your mate to pay for the damages. Thrashing a car while cold isn't good for any engine, let alone the head gasket blowing E-series motors.

Hopefully the radiator fixes that.

Yeah he does, actually. Head gasket is fine though, had it checked a couple months back.

But anyway! Picked the car up from the mechanic this afternoon, the new radiator is some sort of high-end type, and I'm not getting any more coolant leaks. Only issue however is limp mode. I thought mending the cooling system would prevent it (as my trans was getting hot as a result), but not 5km drive from the shop, it locked to third again. I wasn't losing any coolant, and the only leak was a power steering leak. I decided to manually shift between gears, and oddly enough, it didn't lock. Would this be the S5 solenoid, or something else? This is the last real issue I need to deal with.

tl;dr: got new radiator, car STILL goes into limp home mode with no coolant loss. Temperature sits at 'L' until locking, at which point will rise to over M (cools down when stopped or coasting down a hill.) Need to know whether it is the S5 solenoid or something else.

Sounds to me like head gasket symptoms.

gearbox has nothing to do with the water temp to a point, the same as the water temp wont have an effect on the trans untill past boiling point..

the trans wont go into overheat limp untill the fluid temp gets over 120 degc, at this point the economy light will flash and thermo fans will come on full speed..