Causes for burning coolant

[Deleted member 38176]

What could be some of the reason for burning coolant? I've done a little research and it seems that only a leaky/bad head gasket would cause this? Are there any other possibilities?

 

[bhuff30]

How do you know it is being consumed by the engine? There are lots of places coolant can go aside from out the tailpipe.

Obviously, check all hoses and their connections.
Check the heater hose fitting on the back of the intake. (I had this issue)
Check the radiator for leaks (I know mine dribbles a quart every 3 months or so)
heater core
intake gasket (both leaking into the intake and outside)
and somewhere at the very bottom of the list of likely places for a 4.6 to loose coolant is the headgasket.

 

[trinity_gt]

Coolant can enter the combustion chamber though a bad head gasket, through a crack in a cylinder wall or head or perhaps through the intake port if the manifold has a (really) bad seal.

Get a pressure test done. Is there oil in the coolant or vice versa? Compression test results?

 

[Maxpowers]

What could be some of the reason for burning coolant? I've done a little research and it seems that only a leaky/bad head gasket would cause this? Are there any other possibilities?

Most common reason for burning coolant is a bad HG.

Does the car idle find? Large amounts of coolant in the combustion chamber will make the car run like crap.
Is there oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil? Changed these fluids to be completely sure.

Is the car smoking? Maybe this is the smoke you have been seeing instead of the valve seals like you though.
White smoke - coolant
Blue smoke - oil
Black smoke - too much fuel

Burning coolant has a distinct smell to it. Hold your hand to the tail pipe and get a big whiff. Should smell kinda sweet.

 

[Lugnuts]

Remember if the leak gets worse - coolant does not compress and you could hydrolock the engine - bend rods - carnage at high rpms..

 

[Deleted member 38176]

Is the car smoking? Maybe this is the smoke you have been seeing instead of the valve seals like you though.

Thats the damn dilemma I am dealing with and it's driving me fkn crazy!

The car smokes @ idle. It doesn't matter if the motor has been running for a while or if I just started it. The smoke APPEARS whitish to me but I have had some people tell me that it looks bluish to them

A good friend of mine is a very experienced mechanic that runs his own well-known shop and he specializes in domestic cars so the guy knows his *****. He is convinced that it is leaking seals. However, from what I know, leaking seals should smoke primarily on startup and then die off and my car smokes all the time. Also, my coolant reservoir is pretty low. There is no coolant in the oil or vice-versa from what I can tell. I just cant figure this out.