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| Where's the coolant leak? (Page 1/3) |
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Cliff Pennock
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MAR 07, 06:31 AM
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My car is losing coolant at an alarming rate. About a gallon every two months or so. Yet I can't seem to find where it's leaking coolant. I don't see puddles under the car, I don't see it dripping coolant anywhere. Everything near the waterpump is dry.
Any ideas?
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Tony Santucci
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MAR 07, 06:48 AM
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Cliff Pennock
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MAR 07, 06:56 AM
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ArthurPeale
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MAR 07, 09:11 AM
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tiny, itty-bitty head gasket leak? How does the oil look?
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Cliff Pennock
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MAR 07, 09:26 AM
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Dark. Not milky at all. I did have to add quite a bit of oil too but I'm not sure those two are related since it has been quite a while since I had last checked the oil.
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Cliff Pennock
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MAR 07, 09:39 AM
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I did replace the water pump last summer. But AFAICT, there are no leaks there.
The reason I replaced the water pump was because I had the same problem with having to keep adding coolant, and I probably ran the water pump dry at one point causing it to fail. So this isn't a new problem, it's one I've been having for quite some time now.
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eti engineer
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MAR 07, 10:05 AM
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Oil and water disappearing, still sounds like a head gasket to me. Is the exhaust clear? With such a slow rate of leakage, it may not be showing up yet...
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theogre
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MAR 07, 10:30 AM
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Leaking and driving the car now or mostly parked?
Leaking w/ engine hot w/o wet on "floor" = system reach ~ 15psi and then leaking...
Hoses etc often leak under pressure and little to nothing when "cold." use rad tester to pressurize when cold can help here but not always. Plus most testers won't fit Fiero w/o taking hood off.
Internal leaks doesn't always show in oil in sump/pan.
Try this...
Pull spark plugs and keep them in order.
Look at plugs.
Does some plugs look cleaner then others? True then coolant is leaking to clean plug cylinders.
Examples:
Can be iffy intake man or casket because intake has coolant flowing to some intake runners. Common problem for L4 w/ #4 cyl and coolant port but V6 V8 and others can have same. When this happens, coolant often "burns" and never get to oil pan + "burning" coolant can kill the cat and O2 sensor.
Head gaskets can leak coolant into cyl but often leak exhaust to coolant system. When this happens, try putting Exhaust tester probe next to coolant in T-stat house or rad neck w/ cap off. Do Not dip the problem into the coolant. Exhaust gas there you hope just a "blown" head gasket. Often this causes "fake" boil over like overheat but coolant is still too cold to boil even w/o system pressure.------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)
The Ogre's Fiero Cave
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MarkS
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MAR 07, 11:09 AM
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How many miles (or kilometers!) over that 2 month span?
------------------
1965 Tempest 400 CID
2018 Chevy Colorado Z71 3.6
2017 BMW X3 3.0 T
2015 BMW 535iX M Sport
2008 G6 GT "Street" Coupe
2005 Buick 3.6 Rendezvous
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Cliff Pennock
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MAR 07, 11:24 AM
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| quote | Originally posted by MarkS:
How many miles (or kilometers!) over that 2 month span?
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I think around 600 miles.
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