I have coolant seeping out from the top right of the radiator, seems to be a hair line crack where one of the tube goes into. Takes a week for the coolant to get real low it seems. Car has never overheated and I always top off the coolant reservoir. The coolant only seems to leak when driving around. After being stopped for a while the coolant doesn't leak from that spot, or as much at least.

They have aftermarket radiators on ebay for a 99 tahoe going for $100. Would you guys recommend those? Short on funds and and got a haynes manual, although I am very inexperienced when it comes to working on cars, I can follow directions I guess and thought I should give it a shot. I've refrained from using the car in the mean time though. How safe is it to drive around with this issue just until I can gather what I need to fix it.

 

You're fine to drive it around s long as you keep it topped off and watch the temp gauge, you do stand the risk of the leak getting worse and leaving you stranded so don't go far. About the radiator, one from ebay would work if that's all you can afford but make sure it has all the built in coolers that the stock one has. You should have a built in oil cooler with lines runnng back to the oil filter location.

 

Follow the manual. +1 on the cooling fittings. It's an easy-moderate DIY. Good thing due to the cheap plastic radiators they are putting on cars now.

 

Thanks guys. This has been a pain. The radiator I bought was $200 on ebay but it was an all aluminum one(including the side tanks), so I'm hoping it might last a bit longer. But in hindsight, my 99 tahoe has 140k miles and this was the original radiator(stamped 1998 on it) so 140k aint too bad I guess.

If you guys got any pointers or tips on the install let me know. Other wise I will just follow the haynes manual verbatim.

 

I did two in my '95 tahoe, I assume they are similar... it's fairly easy.

Make sure to check your tranny fluid level, since the radiator includes a cooler for it that will use some fluid... I added about 1-1.5 quarts I think...

I also got a coolant checker that has the floating ***** in a thumb dropper thing (makes sense?) that checked my water / antifreeze ratio... to make sure I was good.

you will get greasey, but its not a hard job.

I got my radiator at advance auto for like $120?

 

Ok, I got the radiator, and removed the old radiator. I decided to try an all aluminum one with aluminum side tanks to see if it will last longer than the one with the plastic end tanks. Right now I'm puzzled because the new radiator came with a yellow wire with two rings on each end...maybe it's a ground wire?. I have no idea where this goes. Other than that I know what to do, but this yellow wire is puzzling me and I don't want to do with it.

 

Alright, finished installing the radiator and everything seems good to go. No leaks after 500 miles. Nice to have a car with no leaks. I hope the all aluminum radiator lasts longer than the one with plastic I replaced. Thanks for all the tips. I still have a yellow wire that came with the radiator. Not sure what that is for still.