Wheres my coolant going?

[B3NKobe]

I own a 96 VS Calais V6, lately it has been using coolent like its running out of fashion, Its basically been almost empty everymonth or around that, I havnt noticed any leaks under the car at all,

Any help appreciated before I get it looked at. Ben

[HDT_aero]

what happens is you can get small leaks when your engine heats up (causing pressure buildup) and because the engine is hot it evapourates the water so you never notice it leaking.

if its not that then you prolly have a cracked head meaning your water is going places it shouldnt be.... an eazy way to check for a cracked head is too look for water on your dipstick or bubbles in your coolant while your engine is running... keep in mind that heads can be cracked internally and you may not be able to see anything by looking at it

[fitzy2005]

yea prolly a gasket/head problem

[fitzy2005]

has it been running rough lately?, when you start car is therew white smoke?

[michaelw]

One that I found out (bear in mind I have a series 1.5 VN which had the overflow tank off the radiator) when the pipe from the overflow tank was in the slipstream the air must have sucked all the water out of it, I moved the overflow pipe inside the engine bay and all was well.

I don't know if this is of much use to you as I am not too sure what your cooling circuit looks like.

Mike

[VT-565]

drop your oil, check to see if it looks milky, if so, your coolant is gettin funky with your oil or vice versa, gunky crud in your radiator could mean your oil is having a go at your cooling system. either way, its a problem. as aero said, it could be evaporating, but you should be able to see some water (white calcium) stains where the coolant is leaking. also, check your radiator cap, a shagged spring will allow a busload of coolant out the overflow and obviously it cant get back in. check those few things and let us know how you go

[B3NKobe]

Thanks for all the info guys, I will check the oil/dipstick etc for what you guys have pointed out. The car has been running smooth like normal lately, it wasnt until today when i saw the temp gage climing & found out there was no coolent which was the same for the past 2 months.


Just say it is a gasket/head problem, what prices will I be looking at to get it fixed?

[anotherstockvs]

i rekon i could do a headgasket on a vs in about 5 hours, that includes replacing every seal that u remove to get to the head, intlet manifold gaskets oil bank gaskets etc but if there the car isnt runnin rough and no coolant loss can eb seen then why would u replace the head gaskets, and a VS is not really common for a head gasket try these

Radiator, top and bottom radiator hose, heater tap, thermostat housing, welsh plugs, heater pipe,overflow pipe,

umm if the inlet manifold gasket gives way then it will leak and build up in the manifold for ages then slowly weep from behind the thermostat housin and run along the head gasket and run down the high pressure hose and oil filter and then on to the ground, the valley of the manifold can hold a bit of coolant ,when u got the bonnet open remove the engine cover then shake the car lots and shine a torch into the manifold valley and it will shine bak at ya if theres coolant there :P

[sixshooter]

If you can't notice any external leaks once you have the car up to operating temperature...do you notice any water/vapour coming out the exhaust ?

I also dont know how long you've run your motor for without coolant so I can only guess at to what extent the damage is...I'd be phoning around the engine reconditioners to see what they charge to mill your heads and check them for cracks...they can become warped due to running the motor without coolant which will exacerbate any headgasket leaks.

[B3NKobe]

Well today I examined the problem alot more after losing half a tank of coolent in a 1 hour drive. After looking at it today I have noticed that there is a 'leak' of coolent on the left hand side of the radiator (The Car Battery Side Left), there is a fair bit of fresh coolent all over the left hand side,

Would it be fair to say that most likely my radiator is leaking & I would need to aquire a new one? If so, what is a rough price for a radiator & installation, & any reconmendations where?

[fitzy2005]

wow hang on check the rubber hoses be4 u jump to that conclusion

[fitzy2005]

fill it up (on a flat surface, ) run car on spot for a few mins
and see were its comming from

[HDT_aero]

leaking from where you described usually is a leak in the one part the radiator that cant be repaired im stumped atm for the name but if it leaks from the side you need a new radiator... if it leaks anywhere out of the grill looking part it can be patched by a radiator mob pretty cheap.

i just had teh same issue myself and a brand new radiator set me back $160 (from a friend) and i put it in myself

[anotherstockvs]

yer i got my radiator from repco just ask for trade price and it should be around $160 yer also check top radiator hose, but ummm also if the car is leakin coolant from the l/h side if theres cooland running down where the battery sits then i would say it would need a new heater tap doae tend to leak as it is only plastic but umm radiator takes u 20 minutes to pull out and put new one in theres just 2 raidiaor hoes 2 auto lines and u need the thermos out and thats all it is, buy before jumping to conclusions check the radiator hose and heater tap and the overflow pipe dose come out that way so check that to if not then new radiator it is :P

[B3NKobe]

Hey Guys, thanks for all your help first!!

Well after finding the leak in the radiator left side, I decided to purchase a new one, cost me $180. I also had another close leak, noticed some coolent was leaking around the bottom of the thermostat, so i also brought a new thermostat gasket for like $4. Brought some new radiator hoses & clamps too.

Installed it on Saturday myself, new radiator, gasket, (fan belt too, different story), & radiator top/bottom hoses.

Everything has been going great so far, so I think i found the problem, I went for a 1 hour 30 min drive to test it out, no coolent leaking, & car not over heating.

Thanks for the help again guys!!

[Raging Bull]

I was loosing coolant aswell, turns out the valley gasket covers were buggered, a bitch of a job to replace since you have to take off the plenum, injectors etc. To be 100% sure on the leak just get a pressure test done at any mechacics, it will start pissing coolant out of any holes that aren't meant to be there.