Losing coolant

[Voltan73]

Mine had no codes or symptoms, just coolant loss. Block test fluid turned green instantly. The bad spot on these gaskets is usually between cylinders 4 & 6, which is where mine was. Upon completion of the repair, threw a code for rear 02 sensor. Changed that out as well, good to go.

 

[ArthurKotb]

Losing a normal amount for a car with 250k miles on it lol

Better losing than gaining I always say

 

[Cezar]

Okay lol. Just figured I would offer some help.

Well the car's just getting to the point where it'll need a HG no matter what at some point soon, so it's probably not worth doing a bunch of pre-emptive diagnostics versus just waiting for symptoms to become obvious and then getting the job done.

The procedure looks downright easy. Worst part of the job is gonna be the machine shop fees I think.

 

[Cezar]

I checked my radiator level and it took 30 oz of water after like 2 weeks of driving. Woof.

Had a rave in the engine bay this morning.

Stared at this for a half hour. Seemed almost like a radiator leak. Ended up following it to the upper rad hose where there was just the tiniest spot of coolant. Looks like it was coming from there and then running down and then getting blasted everywhere by the fan.

Found the hose clamp to be quite loose. Hopefully that is all it was! I checked my other hose clamps and a couple were a bit loose also. They were tight when I installed them so I probably need to make it a habit to re-tighten new hose clamps after a month or two of heat cycles.

 

[maxdef]

Are you using worm gear clamps or hose clamps? I will say from experience that using worm gears for the cooling system is a bad idea. I recently did my head gaskets (@zguy1 has a fantastic reference guide) and didn't have hose clamps for the tiny hoses at the throttle body; 15 minutes test drive later some coolant was leaking out.

 

[Cezar]

Still losing coolant :\

About four oz a week.

 

[maxdef]

You previously mentioned having to tighten clamps after heat cycles, which is why I asked if you're using proper hose clamps or what sounds like worm gears. If the latter, there's little point troubleshooting until you put the proper part in place.

 

[rdruss]

I just came back from a 1200 mile trip. Before I left I made sure the radiator was full.

When I got back I had to add 2-3 quarts of coolant to get it back full. Trying to discern if its a head gasket or a leak. I'm going to add dye to the coolant, but what else should I check?

Hoses are new, thermostat is new, radiator is new, heater core is new. Water pump has around seven years on it.

No other symptoms.

If it was a leak you would think a 2-3 quart loss would be visible somewhere.

 

[gomiami]

If it was a leak you would think a 2-3 quart loss would be visible somewhere.

Yeah, like leaving drops on the ground.