Where is my coolant going?

[TimT]

Aluminum radiator core with plastic end caps?

Probably losing coolant from a weep you are not seeing..

[Brian 162]

I had a 97 Tahoe losing a small amount of coolant. It wound up being the intake manifold gaskets.

[nota]

auto trans fluid cracked tube in the radiator can pickup coolant
I had a 740 volvo that had an internal leak
it filled the trans with milkshake

[GWN7]

You can always try the UV dye test. Dump it in the rad and a couple days later go looking with a UV light.

http://www.amazon.ca/Interdynamics-375CS-Radiator-Coolant-Dye/dp/B002M4E0VC

[Arizona_928]

Had this happen on a tdi. Little here, little there. Ended up pressuring the cooling system. Didn't smoke, no mixing of oil coolant.

[Willem Fick]

Had a similar issue with SO's car, an Audi Q5. No test could find water in any other system. Turns out the seal around the water pump pulley had failed, but only a minuscule leak. When the car was standing still no leak, however when running a tiny jet of water was spraying directly onto the pulley which due to its spinning action turned the spray into a fine mist that literally was dried up virtually instantaneously by air moving through the engine compartment. Took a long time to diagnose!

[aigel]

Subscribed.

I would buy a pressure tester and keep the sucker pressurized while cold overnight. Then crank in the am with plugs out. That will show you if you have a leak into the combustion chamber(s).

The scenario likely is, that it needs to build pressure to leak into the cylinder(s) and when it does, it is slow enough where you do not see any smoke.

As others stated, there is a direct path from coolant jacket to cylinders, no need for it to end up in the oil. That said, you could send in your oil for analysis and it would show if there is even a minor leak (which would evaporate out without causing foam / milkshake).

If you don't believe it is getting burnt, it will leak to the outside and may never hit the ground. But it sounds big enough a leak where you'd smell it. I can smell coolant leaks 10 miles up wind. I have even told people driving up to check their coolant, because it smells like it is leaking.

G

[LeeH]

Coolant has a very distinctive odor. I'd think you'd be able to smell it evaporating off of a hot engine.

[M.D. Holloway]

one word...Craigslist. Time to post.

[mattdavis11]

Originally Posted by TimT

Aluminum radiator core with plastic end caps?

Probably losing coolant from a weep you are not seeing..

Yep. Pull the fan assembly and you might see the weeping on the top.

[Rick Lee]

Forgot to mention this tidbit. I first discovered this around October, which was two years after I bought the car. Seems to me, if it were a head gasket issue, I would have had a lot of other issues long ago - overheating, cross-contamination, etc. I have no idea how long the reservoir had been empty when I saw this for the first time. But in order for it not to have all disappeared a long time ago, the issue is probably somewhere north of the bottom of the reservoir, like a leaky tube or cap. That would allow the coolant below there to still circulate and stay there, right?

[mattdavis11]

Think level, and gravity. The top of the radiator is lower and leaks when hot, typical with an aluminum radiator with top and bottom rubber sealed plastic tanks. Get a new radiator.

[Heel n Toe]

What you have sir, is an air-cooled Hyundai.

Drive it and enjoy it.








With the engine fully warmed up and the A/C running to put as much heat into the coolant as possible, take a long look at all the hose clamps , but especially the ones on the heater hoses... and the hoses themselves.

Many moons ago, my wife's '84 LTD II 5.0 fried an engine because of a pinhole that appeared in one of the heater hoses that slowly let all the coolant out... while she was helping out with the transportation on a school field trip. Not fun to get that call.



In memoriam... not the one we had, but it was white and our boys were impressed with the 160 MPH speedo.

It was a sweet car... ex-sherrif dept. detective's unmarked car bought from the county motor pool... cop shocks, cop suspension, etc.