I've got a 1999 Camry XLE, 6 cylinder.

Observed puddles of what I thought was antifreeze on the driveway.

Opened hood, looked down at the front of what appears to be the radiator - shows signs of leaking in the driver's side lower radiator panel as facing the car with the hood open.

Ordered and was delivered a $50 replacement radiator.

Removed fans and old radiator and... as I am looking inside the hood - there is what appears to be another slightly smaller radiator in front of the main radiator that was previously attached to the 2 fans. I'm think "WTF"? and maybe don't need the radiator I bought but this other one, whatever you call it!

I'm thinking maybe the transmission fluid is running through this (what I now call) "the farthest front radiator".

These 2 "radiators" were not attached to each other.

Does anyone have any information of this "other" radiator/part of the cooling system? Any help much appreciated. Car runs awesome, 130,000 miles - lots of power, very good mileage. Have owned it since new.

I promise you I am not usually this stupid, but I thought it was one radiator only!

Thank you!

 

Is the trans an automatic or manual?

If auto trans, the auto trans fluid cooler is built into the bottom of the engine radiator. If so, you should have needed to remove two small hoses going between the radiator and the trans.

Does the car have an A/C?. If so there is an A/C "radiator" in front of the engine radiator. You need not be concerned about this.

 

Automatic....

Thanks for replying - I discovered you are correct - it is the condenser for the AC.

And it's leaking.

What a pain in the @ss! A strange design, but after consideration, it's actually very intelligent.

I will not be defeated - I will fix this!

Thank you for caring enough to reply!

 

Leaking?

If you know the leak is from the condenser, it should be a straight forward job to replace it.

Read up on this job.

If the system is completely void of Freon. You need to install a new dryer. Plus add more compressor lube to the replacement parts.

 

Camry has good supplies of aftermarket parts & services. Advisable to go the authorized mechanic and get an estimate of the trouble shoot. They usually don't charge you for an estimate. <a href="http://www.anzael.com"> Anzael </a>

 

​​​​​​
thanks for your reply. I love this car, runs great . Getting a ton of snow tomorrow so can't even begin until next weekend.

not that simple a repair, but I appreciate all the good ideas from the forum and will share my experience.

thank you

 

thank you , this was great advice!