Losing antifreeze....Checked everything I know.

[EagleTalonTim]

Ok, I have been dealing with this for a few months now and cannot figure out what the problem is. I have to add about 16oz to my antifreeze every day. If I go a few days without checking it, the radiator will be about half empty. I replaced the thermostat when I put the motor in about 5 months ago and all I had was a 160* t-stat. I used Indian Head Gasket sealer when I put it back together. I have never seen any leaks or spots when I park the car and it does not smoke out the exhaust except for black smoke when in closed loop mode in the morning. I replaced the turbo 2 days ago thinking the turbo was blowing it out somewhere, but it still did not change anything. The reservoir stays full even when the radiator is really low. I checked the drain tube from the reservoir and it stays dry. I am completely stumped! Please help.

 

[Staytuned]

Blown headgasket, bad rad cap or just plain old leak in a hose or rad. You are going to have to eliminate them one by one. Compression test on the cylinders, dye in the coolant look for leaks or check rad cap pressure to see if it's holding or dumping coolant into the resevoir.

 

[interex]

Blown headgasket, bad rad cap or just plain old leak in a hose or rad. You are going to have to eliminate them one by one. Compression test on the cylinders, dye in the coolant look for leaks or check rad cap pressure to see if it's holding or dumping coolant into the resevoir.

I'm going to assume if there are never any drip spots that it is slowly burning it and you're just not seeing it burn. You can smell/taste it in the exhaust if you go back there to smell the exhaust when car is running.

 

[EagleTalonTim]

I know there are no leaking hoses, and I just replaced the cap twice in the past month. I will try to get a compression test done when I get home.

 

[1992awdlaser]

If the compression test is good go to Autozone and buy a dye kit. It will come with a couple bottles of dye, a light, and some glasses. Instructions are on the box.

 

[LandoAWD]

Pushing coolant out of the overflow under load?

 

[streetsoldier60]

ok not to be a thread hacker here but I have a 95 talon tsi and I too am losing antifreeze. I fill up the radiator and resevior and a couple days later the over flow tank is empty but there is no spots on the ground and I don't smell or see anything coming out of the exhaust what do you think it may be? I also have a few oil spots on the ground on the driverside they are drops on the ground 3 of them in the shape of a triangle what could that be? a loose line maybe? i dunno. I'm stumped and don't want to replace anything I don't have to you know...

 

[EagleTalonTim]

I just did the compression test and it was low but not low enough to put the head gasket as the problem.

Here is what i got before I put oil in the cylinders : 140, 145, 145, 145
Here is what I got after putting oil in the cylinders : 155, 155, 155, 155

I also checked for signs of a leak and there was none. I checked the drain tube from the reservoir again and it has dried dirt on the sidewalls so I am very sure that it is not blowing out from there. I cranked the car when it was cold and it did steam out the exhaust until it got warm, but it never smelled like antifreeze. Is there anything I can do or use to get the compression back up without rebuilding?

 

[cdndsm]

Check your water feed and return lines from the turbo, the soft part that connects the turbo water lines to the lines running off the water pipe. After I did my 16G install, both of them got tears in them from the rubber being brittle and cracking on reinstallation. They would only leak while the motor was running and were dripping onto the frame underneath making it difficult to locate the leak. There were no puddles in my driveway because they only leaked while coolant was flowing.

 

[1992awdlaser]

Heater core could be leaking but you would most likely smell that. Could be leaking where it goes into the firewall though. That leak might be hard to find.

 

[44pirate]

I would rent a radiator pressure tester from Auto Zone, they didn't charge me anything for the rental, fill the radiator get it to operating temp. And pressure it to the max. You will find your leak.

 

[92awddsm]

Just replace all of the hoses first, oil cooler, turbo, heater, fiav, and radiator hoses to be exact. Just because you dont see any leaking doesnt mean they arent. I had a oil cooler hose that would only leak when at full temp. No signs or drips but it had a pinhole that would slowly open under temp/pressure. When I was parked, the hose would not drip or leave any markings anywhere.

Before pulling the head, have the coolant system pressure checked to see if you can locate any external leaks.

 

[welfle18]

Might sound dumb but water pump maybe! I know that I had the same problem about loosing coolant and it only leaked when the coolant system was pressurized. Check for the leaks when its at operating temperature.

 

[EagleTalonTim]

I have checked for leaks at operating temp and there are none I will have to see about getting the coolant pressure tester. Anything I can do about the rings without rebuilding?

 

[1992awdlaser]

I would be willing to bet that your compression went up due to oil sitting on top of the piston in the dish. That happens every time I have seen somebody try the oil trick. It is true if they jump up a lot something is probably wrong. But that isn't the case here. Those are good numbers also.

 

[92awddsm]

Its a 1g(even 7 bolt 1g still had 7.8:1 compression) so new factory spec is 164 and service limit is in the 120's. Your compression is average for a healthy engine so I wouldnt worry about it.

 

[EagleTalonTim]

come to find out, the water pump appears to be what is leaking. It only leaks when I drive and when I am stopped, it leaks a very small amount onto the sub frame and stays there until I take off. That is why I could not find anything leaking.