Coolant dissapearing??

[Overbesity]

Hi guys I have a 96 VS wagon 3.8
Coolant in my reservoir seems to be continuing to drop and I’m having to top it up every so often.

there are no leaks of any sort that can be seen
Not blowing any smoke out the exhaust
Engine does not overheat
No coolant mixed into the oil viseversa

have recently replaced water pump as it was leaking heavily
New inlet manifold gasket
System has been pressure tested- radiator hose replaced and heater tap replaced.

no idea where the coolant is going any ideas guys?

 

[NORTI]

did you replace the radiator cap in all the other replacements?

 

[Overbesity]

did you replace the radiator cap in all the other replacements?

No the cap hasn’t been replaced although I will be doing that this week, is it a pressure related thing ?

 

[NORTI]

No the cap hasn’t been replaced although I will be doing that this week, is it a pressure related thing ?

good plan. Its so cheap, and very often over looked. Often the failure is not easily visible since they leak under pressure, and then evaporate too quickly to catch it.

 

[Overbesity]

good plan. Its so cheap, and very often over looked. Often the failure is not easily visible since they leak under pressure, and then evaporate too quickly to catch it.

I really hope that’s the case, it’s driving me insane lol, thanks mate

 

[greenacc]

After the cap check the heater in the bottom of the dash. Any wet carpet?
And radiators often fail with tiny pinholes first. Look for any wet / oily patches on the radiator.

 

[buccac]

Hi guys I have a 96 VS wagon 3.8
Coolant in my reservoir seems to be continuing to drop and I’m having to top it up every so often.

there are no leaks of any sort that can be seen
Not blowing any smoke out the exhaust
Engine does not overheat
No coolant mixed into the oil vise versa

have recently replaced water pump as it was leaking heavily
New inlet manifold gasket
System has been pressure tested- radiator hose replaced and heater tap replaced.

no idea where the coolant is going any ideas guys?

Did you add thread sealant to the two end bolts of the water pump the ones that are one above the other right hand side these are like the head bolts they go into the water jacket and if not sealed will leak if you did then the issue is more serious.
I had a similar issue, no coolant in the oil or oil in the reservoir, no white smoke and no apparent leaks plus as it worsened the motor began to misfire first thing in the morning but cleared after a few revs I suspected blown head gasket. I tried a head gasket repair that comes in a bottle (not my thing usually but its a big job doing the heads). Initially car ran fine and no more misfire but the problem of the leak continued albeit at a slower rate so I concluded it had to be the HG.
I ran the motor from cold with the cap of and observed as the coolant warmed up that bubbles appeared in the form of froth and as much as I tried to remove the froth it kept appearing the froth was actually combustion gases leaking into the coolant via a flaw in the HG.
The problem is when it gets to this point there is no vacuum in the system as combustion gas is being pumped into the system coolant expands and fills your reservoir but is not returned as there is no vacuum you find that when you remove the cap the next day you find the level has dropped even though you filled it the day before but the reservoir is full this means you have to do something otherwise your going to cook your motor hope this helps.
I have since serviced the heads and fitted a complete VRS kit and new head bolts, the heads were slightly warped so if you decide to go this way make sure you get the heads serviced they cost me $440 total.