420A Milky coolant

[DumbtruckDSM]

I own a 1997 eclipse rs, I previously owned automatic gs that I had for a year and when I drove it it would smell like gas but wouldn’t let out white smoke, then I went to a manual rs and this one also smelled like gas so I thought I was a regular eclipse thing.

A year goes by and a little white smoke would come out when I would be parked and let it idle or in stop signs etc. then like 5 months and the smell gets worse and smells like a diesel truck and the shifting would be a little odd, like when I put the clutch in it would rev a little high when I was driving.

Now my car is over heating and I always make sure to take care of the fluids. I checked the coolant and it was all gone but it left some slimy green/white substance, and my oil was gone too. It starts right up still and everything tho. What do I do??

 

[Xarzor]

Sounds like a head gasket replacement is needed.

 

[DumbtruckDSM]

Would this also get rid of the gas smell or is that sum else? Oh and would I also have to resurface my head?

 

[Xarzor]

When you say you smell gas do you mean while driving or when it's parked and you walk around the vehicle? You could have a fuel leak or there is an issue with your evap system. There should be a vent line that runs to a charcoal canister. Previous owner may have removed it? If so the line maybe venting gas vapor in or around the engine bay.

 

[CKOPOCT]

You have a lot going on here...

Exhaust issue(s):

Burning excess fuel = black smoke
Burning oil = blue smoke
Burning water/coolant = white smoke

On cold mornings it is normal to see small white puffs coming out of the exhaust pipe. Water condenses internally on the cold metal of the pipes and muffler/resonator and the heat of the exhaust causes it to boil off and get pushed out for the first few minutes of driving. A blown head gasket (split at a water jacket-to-combustion chamber junction) usually produces a thick volume of white smoke that will smell sickly sweet whenever the car is running. Easiest way to confirm this is pulling the plugs - the cylinder that's burning the coolant will have a prestinely clean plug because the water boils the carbon off of the plug.

Gas smell:

A fuel smell is not a "regular eclipse thing." You should never smell fuel from any fuel injected street car. The fuel smell is because there is a problem somewhere. This is most likely coming from the engine bay; certainly not from the exhaust. If you were losing enough fuel into the exhaust your car would run very rough and would probably backfire. I would first check around your fuel rail and injectors. Also check the vacuum lines and canister as Xarzor suggested.

No oil or coolant:

Very bad thing. You could be losing it from leaks. You could be burning it due to a head gasket. You could also be burning the oil down through the rings. Your title says "milky coolant" but your description doesn't mentuon that. I would conduct a leakdown test to see what might be going on in the engine. Inspect the plugs at the same time to see what they tell you.

Resurfacing the head:

Contrary to what others may say, ALWAYS have the head checked and machined true when you pull it off the car. Aluminum and iron have different tensile properties and react differently to temperatures. The moment you loosen the head bolts you allow the aluminum head to react to any springback or structural changes that were being kept in check by the force of the head bolts. Always have the head machined so you will be mating a truly flat surface back onto the block. Not doing so means you are trusting that the head didn't warp a bit or that the head gasket will fill in the gaps - a bad bet considering the labor and parts that goes into a head job.

 

[DumbtruckDSM]

You have a lot going on here...

Exhaust issue(s):

Burning excess fuel = black smoke
Burning oil = blue smoke
Burning water/coolant = white smoke

On cold mornings it is normal to see small white puffs coming out of the exhaust pipe. Water condenses internally on the cold metal of the pipes and muffler/resonator and the heat of the exhaust causes it to boil off and get pushed out for the first few minutes of driving. A blown head gasket (split at a water jacket-to-combustion chamber junction) usually produces a thick volume of white smoke that will smell sickly sweet whenever the car is running. Easiest way to confirm this is pulling the plugs - the cylinder that's burning the coolant will have a prestinely clean plug because the water boils the carbon off of the plug.

Gas smell:

A fuel smell is not a "regular eclipse thing." You should never smell fuel from any fuel injected street car. The fuel smell is because there is a problem somewhere. This is most likely coming from the engine bay; certainly not from the exhaust. If you were losing enough fuel into the exhaust your car would run very rough and would probably backfire. I would first check around your fuel rail and injectors. Also check the vacuum lines and canister as Xarzor suggested.

No oil or coolant:

Very bad thing. You could be losing it from leaks. You could be burning it due to a head gasket. You could also be burning the oil down through the rings. Your title says "milky coolant" but your description doesn't mentuon that. I would conduct a leakdown test to see what might be going on in the engine. Inspect the plugs at the same time to see what they tell you.

Resurfacing the head:

Contrary to what others may say, ALWAYS have the head checked and machined true when you pull it off the car. Aluminum and iron have different tensile properties and react differently to temperatures. The moment you loosen the head bolts you allow the aluminum head to react to any springback or structural changes that were being kept in check by the force of the head bolts. Always have the head machined so you will be mating a truly flat surface back onto the block. Not doing so means you are trusting that the head didn't warp a bit or that the head gasket will fill in the gaps - a bad bet considering the labor and parts that goes into a head job.

Okay thanks you, I found the problem tho! But I have a new issue so I fixed the coolant thing, the issue was that I thought I had a blown head gasket because my coolant turned into this milky, clay thing and I was curious where all my coolant went and I found a large hole in my hoses, it was behind the head and I fixed it and there’s no white smoke and the coolant doesn’t leak and looks green and normal! But now my car runs a little funny, I still smell gas and I checked the engine light codes where that I have a large evap leak and my engine is running to lean? What are some common places to check on a 420a for evap leaks?

 

[DumbtruckDSM]

When you say you smell gas do you mean while driving or when it's parked and you walk around the vehicle? You could have a fuel leak or there is an issue with your evap system. There should be a vent line that runs to a charcoal canister. Previous owner may have removed it? If so the line maybe venting gas vapor in or around the engine bay.

I actually fixed the coolant issue but now I have a gas issue, its when I’m driving I smell it coming from the front and the code says p0455 and that the engine is lean

 

[CKOPOCT]

As said before, I would first check around your fuel rail and injectors. If the car is running lean and you are smelling fuel you have a leak at the rail, lines, or injectors. Should be pretty easy to spot.

Milky clay-like coolant won't be caused by a bad hose. You also mentioned no oil. I recommend you pull the plugs and see what they look like. If they are all looking evenly worn and used then things are probably okay. But if they look drastically different that will tell you something is off, and which cylinders are affected.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Your high idle, lean engine operation and P0455 are all directly related. Obviously a vacuum leak. The vacuum port for your entire EVAP system is on top of the throttle body. The temporary solution would be to remove the line and cap off the nipple. Finding where the leak is occurring in the system can be a bit difficult. You can start by spraying starting fluid all along the lines and listen for the engine to rev up, meaning you found the problem area. From the throttle body, the lines go down behind the front bumper to the purge solenoid. The issue is usually between the throttle body and there. Everything underneath the car is hard lines, but it's entirely possible they've been punctured. At the rear of the car behind the gas tank is your leak detection pump. It does have rubber hoses between it and the gas tank that could have dry rotted by now. But usually if that's the area of the leak you'll get a code that specifically calls out the LDP.