OMG Phantom Coolant Leak...

[kh730]

Ok so this is really strange and I need some guidance. Sitting in the school parking lot waiting for my brother to come out I noticed theres steam rollin out from under my hood so we opened it up and sure enough theres coolant all over the engine bay on the passenger side. Battery, BOV, thermostat housing, ect. And I am like oh my god I just replaced the radiator and now this. Ok so its not all over the ground so we leave...go to his house...phil up with coolant...then leave for my house. We stopped at the bank and were in there 15 minutes, come out coolant everywhere! PUDDLES! So I put more in again becasue I am crafty liket hat and I always carry water and coolant because its a DSM and its not trustable......but seriously, we drove it home and turned it off and waited but no coolant every came out so I went inside. Later that night I went out and still no water on the ground so I went for a drive to get the car up to temp and then parked again and waited. Few drips came out and a small puddle but nothing major, I poke around under the hood again and cant find the leak just a little moisture in the engine bay. So this morning I drove it to work and sure enough as I am waiting to go in I see the steam again coming from under the hood and as i walk in front of the car there is a LAKe and I was only there for 5 mintutes. So when I come out fo work I filled it up with water and drove it home and parked and theres like 3 drips on the ground and thats it. So I took BOV hose and top radiator hose and some other stuff off to see down in there better and all I see is water everywhere but no leak. I cant catch this leek in the act! I am thinking maybe the head gasget is busted but theres no coolant in the oil. Let me know of any suggestions u guys have for me to check or anything or maybe theres a way to check the gasket i have no clue. I am lost now that I cant find some hose with a hole in it Thanks dudes and let me know if you need more info.

 

[snox135]

Get a coolant system pressure tester. It will apply pressure to your coolant system while the engine is cold and off. It should be much easier to find the leak that way. But you may have to heat the motor up then check it to find the leak. Check out Autozone they have tester on there loan-a-tool program.

 

[kh730]

SOUNDS Like a plan I knew something like that had to exist! thank you!

 

[absolute_DSM]

Where are you refilling the coolant at? Make sure youre not overfilling the tank. If you overfill, it could boil up causing it to come out the overflow.

Also, check your cap, they tend to go bad.

 

[tqmx1]

It sounds like it's hose changing time. Right in that area there are 5 3/8" lines 1 turbo cooling 2 oil heat exchanger and just behind those 2 going to the throttle body. At the same time the 2 heater hoses. At the same time there are there are 2 more hoses at the heat exchanger that get bathed in oil so change one change all.

I learned the hard way peace meal and 3 gallons of coolant later.

Fingers crossed that is all it is.

 

[kh730]

I am refilling it at the cap on that line that goes from the engine to the radiator. I even wait for it to get to temperature and put mroe in when the thermo opens which I was under the impression this was called burping? I would say maybe I am overfilling it but the day it started doing this I think it was actually underfilled and I hadt put coolant in for a week(when I changed my bad radiator). How do I see if the cap is just bad, like that sounds stupid, but how do you really know since I have never seen what it is actually leaking? Maybe just go buy a new cap? I dont know I am getting ready to go drive it to my parents house and hope that its leaking when I get there and I can finally see it. I am praying the head isnt cracked or something but how do I check that without dismantling the whole engine? This sure is poopy but it is winter time and so all the old lines are ###### just going bad. Thanks for the checklist of coolant lines over there though, I am gonna get on checking those first and we see what happens.....cross your fingers...

 

[absolute_DSM]

Fill your coolant in the bottle next time.

If your head is cracked youll notice a big leak and depending on where it cracked you could be burning coolant.

BTW, Are you burning coolant?

 

[kh730]

Found the hole it was on one of those lines that looks like it comes from the exhaust manifold. It was like 4 inches of tubing and it was cracked on the underside to where i couldnt see until it was spraying....were good for now though...thanks everyone.

 

[absolute_DSM]

You mean the turbo coolant line? Yikes.