Coolant problem?

[THXdts]

A few weeks ago I noticed that my engine was starting to overheat so I figured it was the thermostat. I was going to change it but then relized how much of a pain it was, and I don't have to much time/tools as of now. I opened the rad cap and filled it all the way to the top. I then opened the overflow and filled that to the max line. Drove around for a day or two, then looked at the overflow bottle and all the coolant was gone. The only coolant left was about .5in from the bottom. So a good bit of coolant was lost, and this is the second time this has happaned. I'm not sure why this is happening, and when the coolant level goes to only being about .5inch above the bottom of the bottle, it stays there all the time. Any ideas whats going on?

[TxFront]

after you top everything off does it still over heat. Does it only over heat at a stand still or going down the road. But my guess is that your rad and over flow was never topped off and when ever thing got to temp it empty it out and you just need to refill it but check your hoses and see if any of them are wet and look for leaks just check and make sure. But I would refill and see if it does it again

[houdini]

if your coolant was low in the radiator, you might have air in the system and need to purge the cooling system.

additionally, when you top off the resevior and radiator and then get the truck warmed up and a little hot it pushes radiator fluid out of the cooling system into the resevoir....if it was full before...now its over full and will spill some out. then when all cools down and it sucks radiator fluid back into the cooling system its giving a lower reading. mine does this as well. don't worry about the resevoir as much...as long as you are within the high-low marks.

good luck!

[ramos]

u might have a leak somewhere. i suggest renting a pressure tester from autozone or pepboys or somewhere. its free, well atleast where i go. check the pressure. if pressure tests fine then i would change the radiator cap. the caps r the most common thing to break before anything else.

good luck

[daves d22u]

I'd watch it everyday. missing coolant is not a good thing. check every hose for wetness and leaks. keep the coolant level in the rad full the bottle is not important right now. watch the temp gauge to see if it goes past the h
the reason being is that you are saying tell tail signs of a head gasket leak.
have some one give your truck throttle to about 2500 rpm and go smell your exhaust. see if it smells really bad like oil, or if its got a sweet smell like coolant.
good luck man when my head gasket went on my fronty i was luckily still under warranty. i am actually starting my gf's civics head gasket tonight that over heated this morning.
if you let it go you can ruin the entire engine.

[thebrandon]

Originally Posted by daves d22u

go smell your exhaust.

lol

don't breath in too deep now


def check the head, all hoses, and blinker fluid levels, the first two are the most important though

[FitzIngarage]

Originally Posted by daves d22u

... tell tail signs of a head gasket leak. ...

That'd be my guess too. Remove the oil filler cap and look into the backside of the cap. Sometimes a leaking head gasket will build up goo in the cap. An oil test will also confirm an internal coolant leak, as will a pressure test that ramos suggested. Yep, coolant's bad stuff -- wipes out crankshaft bearings.

Now for the politically incorrect solution -- a bottle of Stop Leak. My commuter car is a 219,000 Mile '92 Mitsu and it's had an EXternal head gasket leak for many years. Stop Leak has worked miracles and has held tight for 2-1/2 years just fine. It started leaking again just recently (and now with engine oil running down the block as an added attraction <g>), but I can't complain. Depending on how long you want to keep the truck, Stop Leak is a cheap and viable Band-aid.

[daves d22u]

Originally Posted by FitzIngarage

Now for the politically incorrect solution -- a bottle of Stop Leak. Depending on how long you want to keep the truck, Stop Leak is a cheap and viable Band-aid.

off the topic but subaru had a technical service bulletin in 95 or 96 for 2 table spoons worth of stop leak to fix a head gasket problem they had. and it worked.

[thebrandon]

get some stop leak!

try it out, if it doesn't work, take it to a mechanic and tell them its broken

[ramos]

keep in mind what the stop leak does. it clogs up stuff, including the leak. so it can potentially hurt ur cituation. it is a band aid fix.