Where is all my COOLANT going?

[ronsam2006]

My car keeps eating up all the coolant. I have gotten a block check at the radiator shop and my head gasket is fine. I replaced the thermostat. My cap is fine as the shop checked it. But almost every two to three days, the coolant reservoir is empty and about 1/4 of a gallon needs to be filled into the radiator fill cap along with the reservoir. I properly leak it until the thermostat is open and the car is up to running temp. I don't have any leaks...HOWEVER, there was this leak from under the car, under the driver foot(from the underbody), which i sealed up with RTV. The other day, after running it hard, it spit some coolant out from the overflow tube. I have nooooooooooo idea. PLEASE HELP ME!!!

 

[Loewen21]

Is your coolant bubbly? Check your oil it may have coolant in it. These are tell tale symptoms of a blown headgasket unfortunately.

 

[vancitydsm]

leak under your driver foot?? sounds like your heater core might be leaking.. also if ## overflow out of the overflow hose i would change the cap again maybe get a stronger one.. if its leaking from the bottle replace the bottle... what did you seal up with rtv?

 

[vancitydsm]

also if your getting more the usual white smoke comming outta the tail pipe more then likely its a head gasket.. check to see if your oil is milky like chocolate milk if so it could be a couple of things

 

[ronsam2006]

I already got the headgasket check done, they said its not it.

and

It didnt leak under my foot. It leaked under the car from this place...I cant explain it...I will take a pic tmrw and post it. It was on the underbody...but its right under where my feet are.

 

[GORBS88]

Headgasket. My car had the same symtoms, even checked it with the block test and didnt show anything.
I was pulling my hair out for weeks my car would lose coolant, what mine was doing was pushing it out the overflow while driving, but only once in awhile. Every 2 or 3 days it was empty.
I used the blue dye and did the block test 3 times and came up with nothing and then finally broke down and did the gasket. Been good ever since.

I can't guarentee this is you problem but those were my symtoms and it was my headgasket.

Even though the test says it's good doesnt mean it is.

 

[vancitydsm]

i dont know about 1g's but im pretty sure 2g's have a pipe commin outta the heater core box just incase u leak it will just drain out the car opposed to in ## car.. just because some guy leak tested ## car doesnt mean ## head gasket is good .. it could be a super small crack that wont show under 15 pounds or so of pressure but will b seen under 20 mercury or 150pounds of compression.. if ## the rtv fixer type then get some irontight or blocksealer i think gunk makes a good coolant leak additive

 

[ronsam2006]

I checked my dipstick after running it....it seems slick as a oil should be. No foam or milkiness what so ever. Any other ideas?

 

[ronsam2006]

I just don't want to believe the fact that it could be the head gasket, and before shelling out 500 or 600 bucks, I want to make sure it could be nothing else.

 

[tqmx1]

When was the last time the hoses were changed? It sounds like you have some weepers, only weep when the system is hot and pressurised.

 

[el guapo]

hows your water pump?

 

[Mitsu RacerX]

Maybe a busted water jacket on the headgasket. Mine had a busted water jacket and it drank coolant. Retorque the head back down and see if it does it again..With a busted water jacket it will not make it run hot but it will drink water/coolant..

 

[ronsam2006]

When was the last time the hoses were changed? It sounds like you have some weepers, only weep when the system is hot and pressurised.

That seems to make some sense...my hoses are kind of old. And they look like they are dry rotted. But then again, that much coolant loss. It should show some leak on the ground.

Water pump was replaced like 6 months ago. I don't think it is the water pump, because when the bearings go bad, the water leaks, and I would have seen that somewhere.

 

[ronsam2006]

Maybe a busted water jacket on the headgasket. Mine had a busted water jacket and it drank coolant. Retorque the head back down and see if it does it again..With a busted water jacket it will not make it run hot but it will drink water/coolant..

But if it drank coolant, wouldn't the oil while checking the dipstick be kinda foamy, or milky? Also if that was the case, then the coolant should be failing the block check test. I dunnoo....im running out of possibilities.

 

[vancitydsm]

ok slow down.. so did he pressurize your system? on your car.. like did he take off the rad cap and pump your system to pressurize it and check for the gauge to drop or water on the ground??? any water in drive way?? is your overflow bottle constantly full?? I would still like to know what it is you applied rtv to..

 

[mavisky]

It can be tricky because at static it will seal, but under boost it will lift the head just enough to expose that weak spot and let the coolant system get pressurized.

I vaguely remember Kiggly blowing a radiator on the dyno due to this tricky gremlin once.

 

[blownturbotsi]

Heater hoses?

 

[t25fury]

check your small coolant hoses, I had a similar problem, it ended up being a small slit at the throttle body hose that would ony leak while running so there was never a puddle when parked.

 

[ronsam2006]

OK guys I found a small hose that leads from the thermostat housing to somewhere near the turbo maybe 3 in long. Under that I found another 3in long hose that came out thermostat housing, but led to nowhere and had a screw attached to it. That was leaking a little bit, I replaced that. But I have some pics of where I RTVd under the driver side.


This pic from under the car is me going head first into the driver side door below the car(the picture is shot like that as well).
ImageShack - Hosting :: dscf2855modhm9.jpg

The other pic is just showing kinda where it is from the outside. IT is literally right behind the jack.
ImageShack - Hosting :: dscf2856vj2.jpg

 

[ronsam2006]

Anyone...I posted the pics up now in the post above.

Oh and VancityDSM...he took the radiator cap and checked it to see if it held pressure.

 

[vancitydsm]

Go out and buy yourself a cheap pressure tester its worth it for future use man, trust me. If you don't want to then I would personally do this, put water into your system
( cause now you are straight up killing fish ). Only fill the reservoir about half way at most. Bleed all the air out, take it for a good drive around town come back and let the car idle look for leaks on the ground if you see a puddle forming look for the general area the water is coming from. Check the reservoir and tell me if it filled up or no. For you to lose that much coolant in your system it should be pretty freaking apparent if you do have a water leak. Make sure the floor on the interior of your car is not wet. If you have no leaks in or out of your car you have a problem with your engine consuming the water. If that is the case and you don't want to fix it. Then try to get iron tight or block sealer from your auto parts store. LET ME REMIND YOU THAT THOUGH IT MIGHT FIX YOUR CURRENT PROBLEM IT CAN CAUSE FUTURE PROBLEMS ESPECIALLY IF NOT FOLLOWED CORRECTLY. I wouldn't do that until i am certain its not a leak. I hope its not the head or gasket . As far as that hose with the bolt it in, i would find out where that goes. Just follow where it goes cause it does go somewhere. try to take a pic of it

 

[mavisky]

If it's leaking from there I'd be tempted to say heater core. Does the interior smell like someone's making pancakes w/ syrup?

 

[ronsam2006]

Mavisky - No it doesnt smell like IHOP Does anyone know where the water was coming from in the pics?

VancityDSM - I will do that and post up results ASAP.

 

[ronsam2006]

And can someone brief me up on this whole bleeding the air out thing. You put all the water in the fill cap, then wait for the car to come to normal temp with the heater on(why do you have to keep the heater on? for the thermostat to open?) Wait till all the bubbles are out? Then I just put the cap back on once the water starts to go in out really bad.

 

[gixxerdrew]

One thing that drives me nuts is that there is no gasket between the tstat housing and the head. My car has a pinhole leak no matter what I do. If i hadn't been looking for something else I would have never noticed it. You can get these dyes at the auto parts store that fluoresce, you put it into your coolant, drive for a while and then check it with a black light in the garage at night Hope that helps.

The new head I am building I will have the head/tstat housing machined flat so that hopefully it will have a perfect seal. I have seen this on several DSMs. Also if your coolant leaks onto something hot and vaporizes you wont see a leak on the ground. I believe the dyes will leave a residue but ask your parts guy to make sure.