lose of coolant...

[turtleEK1]

hey everyone
was doing so minor mods to car lastnight and noticed my coolant reservoir was empty... i thought, crap... i couldn't have forgot to fill it up when i last changed my coolant (change it often due to track), but i swear i filled it!!... so i filled it back up.

but when i checked it just then, it had fallin! now i hadn't ran it since filling up... and i can't see any leaks anywhere... i'm scared it could be my headgasket...

so my question is... what signs do i look for if it is a fked headgasket? colour of the exhaust etc...?

i've never noticed running hotter than usual... i don't drive it as often as i used to... prolly once or twice a week and once a month out at the track...

thanks guys!!!

[fatboyz39]

cheeck the colour of oil.

Mayb your heater core is leaking?

Ummmm other then that, take it to a mechanic and let them do some test.

[Q_ball]

Try this thread,
http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13052&highlight=coolant

[DLO01]

so my question is... what signs do i look for if it is a fked headgasket? colour of the exhaust etc...?

Appart from visually checking for water leaks like you have done.

Listen/feel for slight hesitation on initial startup of the car in the morning. If water has entered the cylinder(s), when you first start the motor up the water will cause a hessitation in starting, listen/feel for any abnormalities.

If all else fails get a pressure test done and make sure they do it when the motor is hot and when its cold. :thumbsup:

[CUL8R]

if ur worried its ur headgasket how does the car run?
on idle does it have a loopy idle? how about smoke comming from exhaust once warmed and sitting at idle?

clean up the exhaust exit real good and take it for a couple hard vtec trips and then check if theres any crap built on it, what colour is it?

and yes a pressure test would do the trick.

i blew a headgasket in my celica because it ran way hot when the radiator hose blew off. was pretty bad, could only drive like 10km like a granny before temp skyrockets and there was heaps of white/blue smoke spilling out the exhaust, it was clearly evident.

[turtleEK1]

i filled it back to the max level... and took it for a good drive and the level went up... so i think there could have been air gaps in the system... it didn't struggle when starting... and didn't struggle when reving out neither... so i don't think it would be head gasket... could just be a slow leak somewhere... i'll drive it abit more and monitor it...

thanks everyone!!

[fatboyz39]

level went up??? you might have a head gasket problem there.

[EG5[KRT]]

do you bleed the air from the system when u are filling with coolant ??

if its a head gasket u just check ur oil and it should b a very disgusting colour and look really thick and gooey ..

[BlitZ]

level went up??? you might have a head gasket problem there.

could be jsut boiling...
it shoudl noirmally when car is hot

[EG5[KRT]]

could b your rad cap as well :D

[spoonsir2]

Open the oil cap and see if you see sh*t on it (oil mix with water) You can see if there are any water in your engine. Its like Greenish/grayish glue crap!

[DLO01]

i filled it back to the max level... and took it for a good drive and the level went up... so i think there could have been air gaps in the system... it didn't struggle when starting... and didn't struggle when reving out neither... so i don't think it would be head gasket... could just be a slow leak somewhere... i'll drive it abit more and monitor it...

thanks everyone!!
If you take it for a drive of course the level is only going to go up. Your coolant expands with heat and will fill the over flow bottle.

When the motor cools the level should return to the level you filled it.

if there is a difference in levels once it is cold again then you might have a problem.

Stop messing around. :p Be safe, just take it to a mechanic and they can do a pressure test. You'll get a more precice answer there. :thumbsup:

[RMN15N]

heres a trick.. clean your rear bar.. once it's cleaned start your car,
when u see the smoke coming out from the exhaust after it has warmed up use your hand and direct the smoke to your rear bar.
after that touch the rear bar if it is sticky means you have oil coming out
if just feels like normal water then your fine

anyone rep me for this ? >=)

[spardikis]

It is hard to spot a mixture of oil and coolant mixed together and for some one to tell the diffenance by just looking then they are doing good.

Take off the radiator cap and Fill your radiator. start your car. look for air bubbling out of the radiator, not like a foam, but bubbles. If it is doing this chances are you have a gasket leak.
Now to second a gasket leak, do a compression test. you should have descrepiancys between each cylinder pressure if the gasket is blowen. In this case usually two cylinders side by side are lacking in pressure or just one is.

[turtleEK1]

been fine now!! level hasn't moved anymore...

plus i would have thought my car would be running like crap if it was head gasket... but car is still running fine... no struggling start

could have been from the car sitting in the garage for 2 weeks...

and from what you guys were saying... wouldn't it be rings gone if there was a film shit out of the exhaust? not head gasket?

thanks anyway guys

[spardikis]

most deffinatly.....