I have a small coolant leak at the bottom hose where it meets the firewall. The hose is new. Any ideas on what it is and how to fix it? Thanks!
The nipple may be crushed/bent making sealing difficult. You might be able to straighten it enough with some long nose pliers and patience if you remove the hose. Use some sealant on the inside of the hose.
Use a white scrubbie (Scotchbrite) to make sure the surface of the inlet/outlet tubes, often bits of rubber stick on the tubes and affect a good seal. A bit of acetone or mineral spirits will help, but be careful of dripping, as the scrubbies are lousy sponges. (WD-40 is better, but takes longer to help loosen the rubber) Over tightening clamps can create a leak and or crush the tubes.
Check for a crack in the tube the hose goes on. Maybe just crinked a bit from over tightening? Maybe time for a heater core, maybe leak if coming down the tube and it looks like the hose is leaking?
Always hate those oil and water leaks!.... My tips, in addition to the suggested fixes above; I've found that occasionally the hose clamp itself will fail and appear like you have it tight then will "jump cogs" (worm style) and loosen allowing the hose to expand under pressure (will run you around the flag pole for awhile). I corrected my heater box outlet leak as per Larry's direction above after verifying hose condition (hoses are cheap, replace unless its near new). Lastly don't overtighten a good clamp (recheck clamp tension after car cools on first drive).
No one has mentioned it but how old is the hose itself? They can appear fine from above but have cracks/dry rot that are hard to see.
