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Our Caterpillar lift truck has been overheating and leaking coolant for a long time. If i look into the left side wheel well i can see what looks like burning and leaking ant-freeze on the bottom of the engine and frame. It is not from the water pump, but looks like more near the radiator hose.

We cant see the leak from the top under the engine cover. Had to add coolant every few weeks. After adding, the engine does not overheat for a while, then starts getting hot and we notice the coolant leaking onto the floor and check the level and is low again. It has the big straight 6 cylinder engine in our forklift.

Hello, and welcome to fixaforklift.com!!

This is a common problem for these types of trucks, If you turn your wheel all the way to the left and remove the cloth access panel located behind the wheel you will more than likely see the leak and evidence of previous coolant dripping and being burned on the engine.

There is a seal from Caterpillar called a water outlet seal that is located next to the lower radiator hose, it is a good idea to perform a coolant flush since most of it will come out from the outlet, It's a crush metal type seal, it has 2 13mm bolts on the housing and a hose connected to it,

Remove and replace that seal and fill with coolant.

Another overheat issue i've seen is the actual radiator cap tension wears out. Remove and test cap, you can also apply 16psi on the radiator using a pressure test kit to check for any other leaks.