radiator fluid mysteriously dissapearing...

[deftsound]

guys, ive noticed my radiator fluid has been dissaprearing at an alarming rate, it doesnt seem to leak, i dont see any visual leaks anywhere. Thinking it was my upper and lower intake gaskets i replaced those but it hasent helped any. It seems like every few hundered miles or so i have to refill my radiotor fluid back to spec. Its wierd, i have no idea where it is going...

 

[giddyup306]

Sounds like your burning your coolant. You may have a leaking head gasket or cracked block. Do you smell a wierd odor when the car is running?

 

[TheUser]

is your passenger floor board wet at all? Do you smell anti-freeze? Your heater core could be leaking. Also check the firewall and see if you notice any coolant. Either that, you're burning it like giddyup suggested, or it's evaporating/boiling away. If your rad. cap doesn't seal properly, it lowers the boiling point causing the coolant to boil, thus evaporate, so you might try a new radiator cap if it's been a while since you're replaced it.

 

[Ray@VSK]

I had a water pump that would not leak when idling but leaked like a sift when I ran it.

 

[ricer-roni]

i would check out the heater core hoses. I had one leak, started smoking and smelling really sweet kinda. Opened it up and coolant was flying everywhere, the smoke burns your eyes too. I had just filled up the coolant and like 100 miles later it did that.

 

[deftsound]

i hope my block isnt cracked, no i dont have a heater core and it never gets wet on passenger side, i kinda wanna think that im burning that fluid...i hope i am, i guess that would be better then my block being cracked, i just got a new water pump so i know thats not the issue, and i just got a new rad cap so thats not it either, where would it be burning it? And what can i do to fix this?

 

[BlueThunder1988]

I found some small pinhole leaks at near the bottom of my rad (out of sight when looking from the top) last fall when I was doing some work on the engine. Got it recored although if I had to do it again, I'd just buy a new rad.

 

[JimBowy]

do you have lots of pressure on the hose after the car is warmed up? if not... try another radiator cap as suggested.... it really can boil/evaporate away quickly...

 

[deftsound]

i actually have a fairly new radiator, but if there were pinholes like you said wouldnt it be leaking all the time? I mean id see puddles wouldnt i?

 

[BlueThunder1988]

I never saw anything on the ground (not that I'd probably have noticed given how much oil leaks out of my engine!) but it was enough that it would be down an inch every couple of weeks or so.

 

[deftsound]

hmm, well i havent noticed any leaking, im pretty sure its being burnt up somewhere, man this is a pain

 

[deftsound]

ok im a dumbass, i dont have an overflow tank guys.....

 

[bighoss88lx]

I have been having the same problem. I have a new radiator, cap, hoses, water pump, and overflow. It still is just disapearing. I dont see any in the oil, so im guessing a small headgasket problem.

 

[BlueThunder1988]

A couple more common problems are leaking heater hoses/tubes above the lower intake manifold and the EGR coolant lines and gaskets. The coolant can be dripping slowly onto the manifold, valve covers and/or headers and evaporating without leaving any puddles.

 

[bighoss88lx]

A couple more common problems are leaking heater hoses/tubes above the lower intake manifold and the EGR coolant lines and gaskets. The coolant can be dripping slowly onto the manifold, valve covers and/or headers and evaporating without leaving any puddles.

I have replaced all of that too and my heater core is bypassed.

 

[custom89stang]

umm if you dont have an overflow bottle that could be where its going....like just to outside, would take a while to get hot enough and u would only lose coolant when it got hot. you need to understand its a CYCLE, when your radiator fluid gets hot it goes into the overflow, when ur engine/coolant gets cold again the pressure sucks the coolant in the overflow back into the radiator, so if u dont have an overflow, then it'll just go out and you will keep losing coolant

 

[tmoss]

If your rad. cap doesn't seal properly, it lowers the boiling point causing the coolant to boil, thus evaporate, so you might try a new radiator cap if it's been a while since you're replaced it.

Exactly what happened to me when I had your symptoms. What it turned out to be was the filler neck tab that the cap "grabs" had been bent up slightly on one side which did not allow the cap to seal. Tapped it down with a rubber mallet and the problem was gone.

 

[deftsound]

well what my problem is, without the overflow, each time i drive it and it gets hot a little goes onto the ground, then the next time i drive it i have that much less fluid therefor the fluid gets hotter and comes back out and that much more leaves the car

 

[tmoss]

Yep, gotta have a catch can. Even with that, the hot coolant breathing in and out will evaporate it too - just a a slower rate so you gotta keep the can filled.

 

[deftsound]

yup, thanks for all the help guys!