Where is my anti-freeze going?

[MaroonDuneDoom]

Weirdest thing, anti-freeze in my ea82 is going at the rate of a good quart per day. it doesn't seem to be leaking though. I think it's burning it up. once the engine is hot, it just starts to smoke a bit. the smoke is coming from the front of the hood. most likely from the front of the engine. the smoke is white, which would indicate anti-freeze burning. anti-freeze smokes white, right?

 

Could it possibly be a head gasket?

Anybody got a diagnosis?

[Tycho]

...cracked head?

[MaroonDuneDoom]

I don't know. Beats me. The amount of anti-freeze that it loses is perplexing.

 

Does anybody know if a cracked head can burn that much coolant?

I might just hafta take it to my mechanic when i get paid next week.

[Mr. Carb]

maybe it's the front hose that goes into the water pump? it could be leaking and as it hits the hot engine it evaporates.... or runs down to the exhaust.... and evaporates from there.... Theres also little water lines on the front of the intake manofold that ocasionally blow, from what I've herd, maybe thoes, then again I'm unfimilar with ea82's design, especially fuel injected, but thats what I'd look for. I know I had a heater core hose develope a slow leak and it was evaporating causing alot of smoke only when the engine was warm cause it'd run down the side of the engine and hit the exhaust... I hope any of that info helps:)

[chef_tim]

I'm with CD, it will stop lossing AF when the level is lower then the hole. Becarefull of hot AF if you are wiggling the hoses looking for holes. Tim

[calebz]

...the smoke is coming from the front of the hood

 

You'll have to be a little more specific.. theres a lot of stuff unfer the hood that can leak. Have you opened the hood the check?

[Jellyhead]

Mine was doing that. I would get white smoke coming out from under the hood. When I pulled the head, it was cracked. The head gasket was blown, and my exhaust downpipe was cracked.

 

Check the exhaust, that was what was causing the white smoke from under the hood.

 

Any way you look at it, white smoke is not good.

 

Aaron

[subiemech85]

warped intake manifold, bad cap and thermostat

[thealleyboy]

MDD:

 

Before you start jumping to conclusions, pop the top on one of those Ole Mils-and chill...

 

It could be cracked head, blown HG, or even something as simple as a leaky hose clamp. All of those can cause you to lose coolant, and produce some white smoke in the engine area. Constant white smoke out the tailpipe would indicate one of the more serious possibilities.

 

I would start off with compression testing to evaluate the heads and head gasket. An abnormally low reading on one or both sides will confirm that a major meltdown has occured. A normal reading will give you some piece of mind while you investigate the other components in the cooling system.

 

As you may know by now, Subes don't handle excessive heat very well. If you've done serious damage to your engine, there would have been some tell tale signs leading up to it. Do you remember anything that suggests a major meltdown? {Temp guage in the "hot" zone?} If that happened you have a) the original problem causing your engine to overheat and the resulting damage to deal with.

 

If not, you may be lucky. You may not get a second chance, so give your cooling system a thorough look - after you find your leak!!

 

good luck, John

[NoahDL88]

I had the little hose under the TB go out on me trying to climb Queen anne hill in seattle, about half way up i start producing this big billow of steam, it was great, smelled like maple syrup. got to the top, checked out what was wrong and i havn't had that problem since. most of your hoses on the car have got to be at least 15 years old, they're the most likely culprit and the cheapest to fix, i'd check with them first. it could also be the O ring that seats between the metal tube coming out of the pump and the pump. good luck