Thanks to y'all...I checked it out, added the tablets and voila'...it's fixed, although I am a bit puzzled as to why I would have to add a "stop-leak" to the cooling system of what is supposed to be the "best-built highest-quality American car" in the first place...are Caddys really so shoddily made that we have to add a stop-leak anytime the coolant is drained? I got this car from my sister who moved to the east coast and didn't want to take it with her...I've always owned Toyota and Nissan...I have 309,000 mi on my 2000 Tacoma 2wd and it's still spinning like a top...have only replaced brakes, oil and a starter in 7 years ownership

 

I am responding to a post on coolant leaks. I have the same problem with my 98 Deville, so after flushing the radiator how do you add the seal tabs? I'm not a mechanic but I can do some minor things on my own so please be as clear as possible. And do i have to purchase the seals from a GM dealership? By the way are you talking about "stop leak" for radiators which is poured into the radiator or is this something different?

I had my car checked out and the mechanic said that i had a leak in my radiator. It is not a noticeable leak but my coolant warning levels came on he suggested I replace with a new one and also replace both the hoses at a ridiculous price.

Bridget

 

I heard that the practice itself has been eliminated without regard to model vintage. The dealer tabs are supposedly identical in composition to the standard Bars-Leaks product. Three to six tabs in lower hose, though some have said upper hose is just as well, whole or crushed; just don't put them in the coolant reservoir! Works wonders if it's needed at all.

Another very subtle source of slight coolant leakage can be a stress fracture on the top sides of the radiator where a bracket and grommet hold a cylindrical **** that is part of the radiator. I drove around with this for over a year, smelling a little coolant sometimes, and adding a cup of coolant every six months or so, until it suddenly got worse--a gallon of coolant every 50 miles or so! Only solution was a new radiator.