Dickensheets Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 About 1/2 cup per week. No overheating, no oil in the coolant. Where does it go? (97 obw) Anyone else have to occasionally top this off or am I totally screwed? Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 er um ..... Remove the radiator cap and look for bubbles. Also take it ot a shop and let them test for combustion gasses in the coolant. Also cross your fingers. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 About 1/2 cup per week. No overheating, no oil in the coolant. Where does it go? (97 obw) Anyone else have to occasionally top this off or am I totally screwed? Ryan I top it off once in a while but more like 1/2 a cup per four summer months. That amount each week does'nt sound good. Nipper's adviced sounds better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDW25gt Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 About 1/2 cup per week. No overheating, no oil in the coolant. Where does it go? (97 obw) Anyone else have to occasionally top this off or am I totally screwed? Ryan Mine did that for a year before overheating started. Try some barrs stop leak. After the over heating started it was down hill from there. Head gaskets were shot. When it was all said and done I had a new engine. If you are dealing with a good shop they should be able to do a pressure check on each cylinder to see if it is blowing back into the cooling system. If so get the head gaskets replaced by a good mechanic. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrian Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Maybe it's going all over the driveway. Park over a sheet of cardboard at night and see. Also see if there's stains descending from the water pump's weep hole, though 1/2 cup seems like a lot to weep. I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcspeer Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Check your radiator good you may see a seep, also check the hoses including the heater hoses, could also be the heater core, I just changed mine about two weeks back. also check on the bottom at the thermorstat and the little hose there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickensheets Posted October 13, 2005 Author Share Posted October 13, 2005 Thanks for all the insight. I'll tear into it and report back. Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Is there any trace of coolant spill around the expansion tank? If so, your problem could be as simple as a faulty radiator cap. With the engine running at normal operating temp, switch off. Then wait one second, turn the key back to the "ON" position and watch the temp needle. If it rises all the way back to normal op temp, your rad cap is bad. The needle should come to rest just below normal. (All this from the comfort of the driving seat!) OR: I was recently losing a similar amount of coolant, and I could not figure out where it was going!! Turned out there was a TINY leak where the upper rad hose connects to the engine. Most of the time, I reckon the coolant was getting out as steam, but after a 500 mile motorway journey, I noticed the dreaded smell of coolant. There was a small puddle on the engine block below the hose. Took the hose off, cleaned and sanded the coolant pipe, put a new hose on and the coolant level is steady. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al_SemC Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Either it's leaking or it's burning it. There's nowhere else for it to go. Hope for a leak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Is there any trace of coolant spill around the expansion tank? If so, your problem could be as simple as a faulty radiator cap. With the engine running at normal operating temp, switch off. Then wait one second, turn the key back to the "ON" position and watch the temp needle. If it rises all the way back to normal op temp, your rad cap is bad. The needle should come to rest just below normal. (All this from the comfort of the driving seat!) Very interesting Setright, but could you explain that one to me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Very interesting Setright, but could you explain that one to me? Yes do share the logic behind that one to me too. I usually just tel people if its more then 5 years old and they have an odd problem spedn the 5.00 and replace the cap. The only real way i know of is to pressure check the cap. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 Okay, but please be patient : In April, I noticed some coolant spillage around my expansion tank. YIKES! Thought about HG problems.... Went for a drive, stopped with the engine running, popped the hood and sure enough the expansion tank was full to the brim, and the air hole was letting coolant escape. No bubbles. A quick check on the upper rad hose: It was soft and easy to compress. SO, I deduced that there was no pressure in my coolant system, hopefully due to a bad cap. A few days later, a new cap solved the problem. I note down my mileage during my working hours, because I get a certain allowance per mile. Sometimes, I switch off the engine before I note the mileage. Since the odo only shows up on the LCD with the key in "ON" I need to swing the key back to read the mileage. That's when the temp needle also resumes its readout. My hawk like eyes had noted that the needle was returning to full op temp. I thought it was a warm weather thing. However, after fitting a new rad cap, the temp needle ALWAYS stops short of full op temp after the engine has been switched off even for a short while. SO, it's not a BS theory, it's based on real events. Theory: The pressure in the cooling systems ensures a good contact between coolant and walls, this allows enough cooling to let the temp needle drop after a short switch off. With no pressure in the cooling system, the temp stays higher for longer. It also means risking local boiling inside the engine block, which must be a sure-fire way to stress HG's. The scary thing about rad cap failure is that it doesn't leave many clues. No overheating on the temp needle, just a slow loss throught the expansion tank - which I only noticed because I open the hood at least once a week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickensheets Posted October 14, 2005 Author Share Posted October 14, 2005 I'll try a new cap this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 nice try on the theory: A pressureized radiaator cap raises the boiling point of water so it can carry more heat: http://www.centuryperformance.com/coolingsys.asp My theory on the head gaskets is that they are very sensitive to antifreeze breakdown. Antifreeze needs to be changed religously every 2 years or 30k which ever comes first. Water used needs to be demineralized. Antifreeze has rust inhibitors, and lubricants in the mix. The head gaskets that originally blew may have had very little material between the combustion chamber and the water jacket. The smallest amount of corrosion eiter from the water, or erosion from combustion would cause the leak. Gaskets do all of their seaking on the on any raised portions of the surface, or where there is the least amount of surface area (100 ft lbs of force applied to a 1/8" surface area has a higher applied force then a 1" surface area ...i hated designng gaskets). Thee is a general rule of thumb KISS when it comes to repair. Keep It Simple Stupid (not calling anyone stupid, i swear thats what is stands for ). Go after the simple reasons first, then go for the big stuff. Radiator cap is as simple as it gets. Good idea to check hoses adn otehr things on your part nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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