Mystery disappearing coolant, I'm worried

[MyBeatGSX]

Obviously missing coolant is never a good thing. My reserve tank drops from full to fill in about a 1 month period. I just keep refilling it. There's no smoke out the exhaust, no oil in the coolant, no coolant in the oil, and I have a 4 layer metal head gasket, there's no visible external leaks, and no coolant on the ground, etc. So I don't see how it could be a headgasket. Where is my coolant going>

 

[luv2rallye]

Could be leak in turbo or hg or system. Have coolant system pressure tested (or buy your own tester at Sears).

 

[eclipsegsx1736]

It could also be boiling and evaporating.

 

[MyBeatGSX]

My turbo has no coolant lines. What's hg?

Wouldn't it have to be overheating to be boiling?

 

[luv2rallye]

My turbo has no coolant lines. What's hg?

Yours would have to have a "different" style of turbo then (everyone I know of is both oil and water cooled). More likely your turbo coolant lines have been disconnected for some reason. hg = headgasket. Did you replace the radiator cap already?

 

[this_tsi_8urV8]

I had the same issue w/my car. Its a 90 TSI, and it had no visible leaks. I could hear the coolant boiling when I shut the car off. Coolant would disappear in couple of days and it would not smoke either. I did a coolant sys. pressure test and nothing came out, no hissing, not inside or outside leaks. So then I was going to do a compression test, tested 2 cylinders and I was trying to put the tester in cyl 4 and I couldn't screw it in. Then I removed plug 1 and decided to crank engine to get crap out of there. I cranked it and coolant shot out like a geyser out of cyl. 1. Cranked it again and more came out. So, I arrived to the conclusion that when I pressure tested the system, coolant went into cyl. 1 via a blown gasket. In a couple of days, I will be taking off the head and replacing it w/a cometic high pressure hg, a koyo radiator, and HKS rad. cap. I suggest you do that same, well pressure test it and if nothing comes out take off the plugs and check in the combustion chamber.

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

Well, there's a couple of good tests. First, go and get some ultraviolet coolant dye. Put it in your radiator when it's cold. When you are low on anti freeze get a black or ultraviolet light and scan the engine bay from top to bottom. If you find an iridescent green color, trace it back to the source. If you cannot find any green you are not losing it externally. For internal concerns, get a hydrocarbon test kit. These are usually available from Mac, Snap On and such. The parts houses may even have them. It's a blue liquid that turns yellow in the presence of hydrocarbons. IE exhaust fumes. If your liquid turns yellow, voila. You have determined you have an internal leak. Pull the spark plugs and use a bore scope to see which if any pistons are pristine clean. If you find one that looks like it is new then that is the cylinder you need to concentrate on. Either head or head gasket.

Hope this helps Good Luck