Strange anti-freeze leak. Seeking help.

[Chadwick]

This evening I drove out to the local country-mart 2 miles away to pickup a few things. As I was walking out a guy pointed out that my truck was apparently leaking. There was a pretty large amount of antifreeze on the ground. It appeared to be coming from the rear of the passengers side frame just in front of the wheel. Liquid was dripping there. I felt it and it wasn't warm and it appeared to be clear like water leaking from the bed. (it's been raining earlier today) I could smell a hot antifreeze odor but a quick inspection under the hood didn't reveal anything. Temperature gauge wasn't showing anything unusual. I went ahead and drove it home while carefully watching the temp. gauge. It didn't get any hotter than normal. Once at home I checked under it to see if I can spot any leaks. Nothing besides the dripping at the rear. I start the engine back up and grab the water hose and remove the radiator cap. It seemed low, however, once I started adding it didn't take more than about a glass of water and it was full. I checked the overflow and it was low, but not empty. I filled it up to the hot mark. Checked again and didn't see anything leaking, but it's getting a bit too dark to see well now.

The oddity of this is, there isn't one drop of coolant leaking from anywhere around the engine. I'm seriously hoping the antifreeze at the store was from some other poor soul and it wasn't me at all. However, I don't recall see a huge pool of antifreeze when I pulled in. Plus the guy said he saw it pouring from the rear of my truck.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Chadwick

[Lil-j]

Your good. No coolant in the rear of the truck. More than likely someone elses coolant spill. Plus you said it rained, and the drippage from your truck was clear. Cooland would be green or orange...

[HenryJ]

First thing that came to mind is condensation from the air conditioning. That shows up as a puddle at the passenger side below the dehydrator.
Next is the drain for the cowl. Again most noted at the passenger side rear fender. Driver side as well though. Usually more of a drip when parked, rather than a puddle , unless there is blockage at the drain. That usually results in the leak to the inside on the floor.

Last and worse is a coolant leak. The soft /freeze plugs are suspect, as is the intake manifold. Neither visible from the top. The intake sneaks down the back and usually has the starter wet with coolant. Freeze plugs keep the oil pan wet.

Lift the fender skirts and crawl around underneath. You are going to need to do some detective work to know for sure.