So, I had one of the Dakota plastic tank, aluminum core radiator in my 49 Dodge truck. That radiator had an intermittent leak that would come and go, sometimes not leaking for more then a month, then leaking out a quart of coolant in a couple of days.
It took months to find it.
What I was getting was a leak at the pinch seem between the plastic tank and the aluminum core. At very specific temps (about a 10-20 degree swing, half warmed up), the pinch would open up (didn't matter if the temp was increasing or decreasing), then when it got above or below that point, it didn't leak.
In hot weather, it barely leaked at all, probably because it went past that point so fast. As the weather cooled, the leak was worse because it took longer to get past the specific temp. It never left any trail, and if I hadn't actually seen it leaking one day, I probably would have still been looking for it. Once the radiator was out of the truck you could see the signs of the leak, but you sure couldn't see them while the radiator was still in the truck. I replaced the Radiator with a complete aluminum radiator. Haven't had a problem since.