found a leak in the battery fluid radiator

[voltowner]

While inspecting things before the battery update the teck found the fluid ws low and then found a leak in the front left battery fluid radiator. It looks like something hit the bumper straight up from underneath? Only thing I can think of is I ran over a parking lot cement bumper thing??? There is a 3 inch L shape break in the plastic bumper on the bottom. ( no damage on the front of things) They say it looks like something went up and hit the radiator calusing it to have a slight leak where the plastic meets the metal. $1,200 to fix just hte radiator but while they have it apart another $900 will replace the plastic bumber and grill so might as well while things are apart already. The grill has verticle straps in the middle between the blades and the bottom 2 are broken.

I don't remember hitting anything but who knows... It has to be something I did, but any ideas to help me avoid doing it again. I alread avoid sharp inclines after a couple of driveways sounded pretty bad. Take them on an angle when I have to get across them now. Roy #1019

[DonC]

Very sorry to hear about your misfortune Roy. Hopefully they'll get it fixed pronto.

[cmr]

i lowered our 2010 suburban my wife drives and put a set of 24's on it. i installed an color, infrared camera on the front so you can see how close you are getting to things.

[bonaire]

One member here reported a rock caused a leak or total loss of fluid and might have needed a full battery replacement after that due to heat associated with the leak. The one nagging engineering issue I see with the Volt is the mounting point for such an important radiator - mounted too low and easy to damage.

[Bzzzt]

This is absolutely, positively THE reason to this new Volt Enhancement Not A Recall done. You get the updated battery coolant tank with level sensor, along with a computer update that will throw some sort of an error code / idiot light if the level drops.

Hopefully they caught it before any battery problems developed. If there was still fluid there, and it was just low, I wouldn't worry about the battery. Maybe since Volt owners don't really need to check oil at fillups, it might just be a good thing to take a look at our coolant tanks now and then.

[ewiggins]

Something needs to be done to protect these important parts since this is the 2nd time we hear about this. I wonder if someone can mount a simple plastic dam to help protect.

[voltowner]

Great responses thank you. I was able to get under the car and see the damage. It was interesting that there was no visible damage to the radiator. If the bumper (hit) touched it, it didn't leave any mark on the radiator. The teck said that the metal radiator has plastic wells on the sides and where they join it would be easy to get a leak from a hit to it. That is where he said it was leaking. They assume it was since there was damage to the bumper? But if the bumper didn't make any mark on the radiator could it have been a defect in the joint between the metal and plastic? My fault is a $1,200 repair. ($800 of it labor) Faulty radiator would be a warranty repair.

I agree about some sort of shield but it would need to be strong. The radiator is hanging so low I think there was just an inch or too between it and the bottom of the bumper. I want to check the distance again. You could push the bumper with your hand and move it up easily. I want to check to see if the frame of the car was there or just the radiator hanging there "below it"? Think that if the radiator was a bit above the frame the bumper comming up would hit the frame instead of the radiator? (seems like a better way to make it to me) But in my case they said it was the bumper hit the radiator? Like I said looks like my fault since the bottom of the bumper is damaged but do wonder?

Think I remember he said the coolant was just low not empty when he checked. They did run diagnostics for the charging (not always charging on the delay) = (another post) and everything checked out. Assume he checked the battery for damage to it but will ask now.

So they will check to see if it charged last night at midnight for them. The parts will not be in till next week so I will go in and check on the weekend to see if it charges since they are closed. It is an intermitent problem so hope it happens while they have it.

Like the camera idea but would not want to add a screen to the interior... If it is a big problem, another option front camer like the back?


Roy #1019

[dwl]

It'd just be nice if the park assist sensors detected objects that were lower than 10 inches. But I'm not sure how technically difficult that would be. I'm guessing it might not be too easy. 10 inches is still high enough to hit something. At the very least, high enough to push in the air dam. During my first couple weeks of ownership, I got the nose a little too far over the curb a few times without noticing it.

[kickincanada]

My battery rad had a problem too. It was leaking for some reason and they replaced it under warrenty. All the coolant had leaked out and it damaged the coolant pump as well so they had to replace that. All under warrenty.

This is clearly a problem in my eyes.

[voltowner]

I just spoke with my dealer and they said they are blaming the bumper hitting the tank as the cause of the problem. I asked if it could be because of a weakness in the tank? But they didn't agree. They said that where the plastic tank and metal radiator parts meet it is dilicate and a slight movement can cause a leak. Even if the bumper didn't hit hard enough to show that it did made any contact with the housing ane calling it the cause of the leak. Since the bumper looks like it was hit upwards it is my fault.

I did ask about the possibility of tghe cars frame or something heavier there but there is no frame across the front there. Just the radiator in a housing. Guess it was the housing the hit but not hard enough to make a mark on it.

Guess I should just be glad I took it in for the recall and they found it before the battery went bad. Roy #1019

PS: the car didn't charge last night for them so they see what is going on there.