The car was running fine and since it has 172,000 miles on it I decided to replace the radiator, change coolant, change hoses, etc. There has been coolant leaking from the connector to the overflow tank (near the radiator cap) and it's coming from the hose. I used the old hose to the overflow and it is leaking there, but I ordered a new one since tightening it still causes it to leak near the radiator cap. I noticed there is like white like dusting on the surface. I try to suck it out with a turkey baster into a cup to see it better, but it is like it won't suck up or it disappears. If it disappears it leads me to believe it's air bubbles from the leak? The coolant was clean looking when I changed it a couple hundred miles ago so I doubt it's a head gasket? Could that be what that white dust like stuff is? Also in the bottom picture, does that hose just come right off or is it sealed in such a way that I should replace the reservoir too?

 

The "white stuff" is dried up and baked-on coolant. The hose to the overflow bottle does come off, but most of us disconnect it at the neck of the radiator.

 

Wait we do?!

Why do we do this?^

 

Hah.. For the same reason we put our windows up when it rains.

 

So we can spill coolant onto our belts? Lol

I'm not following.

 

Noo. So we can unbolt it from the fender, hold the other end of the tubing with our right hand and pull it out without spilling coolant onto our belts.

 

Ohhhh wow I thought this whole time we were talking about removing the reservoir all together from the car and closing off the resivuar nipple on the rad cap neck.

I was like what does that do!?

 

I don't get your reasoning for changing the radiator, but I would of flushed the whole system with the t-stat out if you were going through all this trouble.