coolant magically disappearing

Night Shifter · Feb 16, 2011

ok so right now im stumped...

last week i startet getting a really loud whine coming from the front of my car...sounded really loud and kind of like the fan but i couldnt pin point it...while i was checking over everything on monday i noticed the coolant resevior looked low...i left the car in the garage tuesday and when i came home i checked the coolant...not a single dropin the tank...so i filled it up last night...

i drove the car to work this morning and the whine dissappeared..its a 50 mile drive round trip from my house to work so i let the car cool off and checked it a little while ago...there is barely any coolant in the tank...its not even 1/4full...

i have been noticing the past couple of weeks there has been some white smoke coming out of my exhaust..i just thought it was because of my half assed tune so i set up a date this week with a new tuner..

but now im pretty sure its coolant mixing with the oil...i checked the oil but it looked notmal as well....checked all areas around and under the manifold and theyre all dry...no leaks from the lines either...garage floor is perfectly dry under the car and even the spot i park at at work couldnt be any dryer

any ideas...maybe its somewhere on the manifold i missed? a head gasket? the car temp isnt any higher or lower than normal either...everything on the motor including the motor is brand new...only 12,782 miles on the new set up..i'd love to just tear everything apart but as of right now its the only car i have to get me from a to b..but its probably what im going to have to do

any ideas

sometimes i hate this car

RedDaemon · Feb 16, 2011

id want to say a major air pocket but when was the last time you messed with the coolant? youd prob notice overheating issues though.

did you happen to smell the oil?

Night Shifter · Feb 16, 2011

lassed time i messed with the coolant was when i buttoned the engine back up which was actually 1 year ago exact..

i didnt smell the oil which i may go do but when i changed my oil last month it did have an odd smell to it though..hmmmm

honeslty kinda smelt burnt though but then again not really...all i can say it it was a funny smell

bhuff30 · Feb 17, 2011

I know you checked a lot already, but get the car hot and check each of these again (carefully since it is hot).

check for water behind the water pump pulley. a bad water pump could make noise and leak too
look around the radiator cap
Any smell of coolant if you use the heater? if so, heater core leaks
check the block valley, there is a heater tube running all along there
heater hoses, especially at the connection to hard lines
there is a fitting on the intake manifold at the back passenger side for a heater hose. that stated leaking at the fitting for me once
check the radiator for knicks in the front. Check the plastic end tanks around the radiator hose connections for cracks. plastic can crack, especially near the hose connections
I don't remember what year car you have... intake coolant crossover? is it still plastic?

That's about it for external leaks. The 4.6 seems to very rarely blow head gaskets, so it is unlikely that is the cause, but not impossible. I have blown head gaskets that just leaked water and never mixed with oil, so it is a *slight* possibility.

What you described sounds like a pretty good sized leak. If it is external, I expect you could find it. Do you ever smell coolant around when you open the hood?

Night Shifter · Feb 17, 2011

didnt think about the water pump, good call on that, an ill check when i get back home..
nothing around the rad cap
havnt tried turning the heater on and will do so on the way home and at the house
the valley of the block is completely dry...not a single spot of anything in it
checked all hoses/connections while car was on and off and nothing
checked the rear fitting on the manifold and its perfect with no signs of leaking
didnt check the radiator or end tanks so ill do that as well...didnt even think of that so thanks

its a 2000 and i had the last manifold break an leak so i replaced it with an aluminum crossover, then i rebuilt the car and put another brand new manifold on it with the aluminum crosover...and i never smell coolant inside or outside of the car or when i pop the hood...dont smell anything close to a coolant smell...thats why im sctraching my head on this one..

thanks for the info of things to check though

trinity_gt · Feb 17, 2011

Disappearing coolant goes one of two places: It is either leaked out (onto the ground or into the sump) or it is vaporized during combustion. External leaks are most likely. The whining noise you heard may well have been the waterpump (though you should check the P/S fluid too...) and you may have a bad seal. Heater cores can leak as can rotted/soft hoses.

You should also inspect your block core plugs: Just over a year ago I got into the throttle on mine and was met with a massive cloud of steam out back. I thought I'd popped the engine but it turned out I had a b-heater push out. That was replaced with a standard plug and all's been good since then. I'd sniffed coolant for months prior to that every once in a while but didn't think much of it...

Coolant in the oil will give a frothy, creamy, milkshake-like appearance to the sump contents. Headgaskets are rare on these engines but if the engine had been severely overheated at some point things may have warped beyond the gasket's ability to compensate. Do a cooling system pressure test. You may also try pressurizing each cylinder in turn and looking for pressure forming the cooling system too; if you see this you may have found a gasket leak.

Maxpowers · Feb 17, 2011

Check and make sure the passenger floor carpet isn't wet.

I would have to assume it's being burnt. Perhaps you can perform a leak down test?

N8Dogg98 · Feb 17, 2011

I had a similar problem and I noticed some green gunk near the t-stat housing. I replaced the t-stat and the washer and the problem went away. It must have been bubbling out of there while I was driving

Night Shifter · Feb 18, 2011

UPDATE!

after doing some pressure testing i have found that my radiator was cracked...so a fluidyne is going in...if this ever happens to anyone know you'll know what to check

trombonedemon · Feb 19, 2011

Night Shifter said:
UPDATE!

after doing some pressure testing i have found that my radiator was cracked...so a fluidyne is going in...if this ever happens to anyone know you'll know what to check

Had me worried there for a minute.

Night Shifter · Feb 19, 2011

me too...i didnt know what the f was going on...fired her up this morning with no clouds of smoke

the only time it was leaking was when the sytem was hot and pressurized so while i was driving the car it was leaking but when id shut the car off it wouldnt leak a drip which is why i never saw or smelled any coolant....damn car is possessed

coolant magically disappearing

Night Shifter

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RedDaemon

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bhuff30

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trinity_gt

Maxpowers

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N8Dogg98

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trombonedemon

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