Coolant Loss

[944Driver]

Last fall, I had my 83 944 engine rebuilt. In addition to the engine, most of the cooling system components were also done, icluding: new radiator, water pump, low-temp thermostat, and coolant expansion tank. I stored it over the winter, and have put on about 2000 (fairly gentle) highway miles since the rebuild. Before I stored it last fall, I noticed large amounts of puffy white smoke coming from the exhaust, even after the car was fully warm.
I assumed (or hoped) it was due to the damp cool fall air. Unfortunately, my expansion tank level dropped below a visable level in less than 1000 miles of (mostly) highway driving. Of course I checked for leaks and found nothing. Well, I topped up the tank when I began driving the car this spring. I quickly went to the mechanic who rebuilt the engine. He performed a compression test and found a low cylinder. Blown head gasket, right? He claimed the gasket was'nt damaged, but he replaced it anyway. Well, it's less than 500 miles since this work was done and I'm still losing great amounts of coolant!! The exhaust has'nt smoked since he installed the new head gasket, though. Could it just be air in the system? Each time I refill (when the engine is completely cold) I bleed the system. I drive for an afternoon and then check the level while the engine is still hot. It's generally well below the max level. I leave it and check the level after the car has been sitting overnight. Usually, the level is at minimum or below, but again, no visible leaks, and it no longer appears to be burning through the engine. I'm taking the car back to the mechanic to have another comp. test done. Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[Darin]

Something to check is if there is coolant in your oil. The passages from the head to the block could be leaking if the head gasket is not positioned correctly or the head maybe cracked. A low cyclinder could also be valves. I recently had a low cyclinder problem on my 84 944, but mine was due to bent and worn valves. So if your mechanic digs into again, you may want to have a machine shop check your head for damage. Hope this helps.