DC2 radiator/coolant HELP. what's wrong with it??

[JDM_VTIR]

my radiator is leaking...so it seems. but its really weird. i fill it all up including the overflow bottle to the MAX point. i drive for awhile (20 min)...have a look to see if there are any leaks. nothing...

i pull to the side of the road. pop the hood to see the overflow bottle has been strangely filled all the way to the top. i get home and park it. i come out a maybe 3 hrs later to see that i have NOTHING in both radiator and overflow bottle...

what's the problem? is my radiator busted? need help...don't want to spend $220 for a new radiator.

[dsp26]

$300-$400 for oem inc. labour...

better just get an alloy one and install yourself

[90LAN]

just post in wanted section usually 100-150 bucks
and change it your self easy as

[94dc2tegz]

yea i think i got mine for 300?

[JDM_VTIR]

bump for help!

[bennjamin]

loose bottom end pipe/coolant hose clamp.
OR worn O ring on the bleed valve (the white plastic valve to drain the coolant) - both can drain your coolant quite quickly

[e240]

Check the heater hoses in the back as well. Thats where I found a leak once.

[JohnL]

Hmm,
If the water jacket has become hyper pressurised then substantial coolant will flow into the overflow bottle, which may then overflow losing that coolant forever. As the motor cools down the coolant in the bottle will be sucked back into the rad, but when you check the rad you may have lost so much coolant that all you see is the top of the core.

Worst case scenario; head gasket. Or even worse than worst case; cracked head or block. I'd slit my wrists now, save doing it later...

[Limbo]

try leaving the car on and turn the a/c on hot and see if you can promote the car to heat up. Then see if you can see any leaks. If your driving around by the time you look you may not see where its leaking from.

[JDM_VTIR]

i've noticed that while i'm driving with the ac on on a hot day and then parking it. it's more likely that'll leak all the coolant.

my head gasket needs replacing. i knew that before this happened. could this be the issue?

[IZY-10]

yes it could be. But it should not be seeping out that much

[Tu88y]

quick way to see if your head gasket is blown is to open up the rocker cover and see if you can see any coolant mixed with the oil.

I was in this situation a few weeks back thats why I rebuild my whole head since it was off....

[teh_mechanic]

if your radiator was losing that much water you would see the leak,so (without me being able to see it) id say its not the radiator.
like people said,heat car up with radiator cap on and see if you can see a leak anywhere...mechanics have a pressurising pump thingy that can go on the radiator to pressurise the system,then if any coolant comes out you can see where the leak is.
To be losing that much without having a puddle on the floor is strange....would lead me to thinking it could be:
-head gasket,does the car stutter for a few seconds when you start it (because water is getting into the cylinder),i don't think a head gasket could let that much water in so its unlikely.
-feel underneath your dash,your heater core could possibly be leaking if its wet anywhere under there (heater core is above passenger foot well)
Anywhere else,losing that much water,you should be able to see where the water is going...it cant just come out of your radiator and overflow bottle then disapear.


quick way to see if your head gasket is blown is to open up the rocker cover and see if you can see any coolant mixed with the oil.

I was in this situation a few weeks back thats why I rebuild my whole head since it was off....

if this is the case you can normally just take your oil dipstick out and check the quality of your oil,it will look milky if there is coolant in it,which is a good indicator of a blown headgasket

[NAY]

Headgaskets can go without allowing oil/coolant mixing. This means you may not see the tell tale milk shake.

It is possible it may blow between the cylinder and water jacket resulting in exhaust gases entering the cooling system. Not too mention all the added temperature and pressure.
You can get a leakdown test done or it is possible to detect exhaust gases in teh cooling system.
I had a car with a blown head gasket. It would do this on a regular basis. I think it lasted nearly another 2 years before it completely went capput. It was a shitbox and was on its way out. Fixing it (head ended up cracked too) would have been more than the car was worth.


Either way plan to fix this sooner rather than later. Its going to end up more expensive the longer you leave it really.

[teh_mechanic]

Headgaskets can go without allowing oil/coolant mixing. This means you may not see the tell tale milk shake.


i understand this,but we are looking at why he is losing water,not discussing all the ways to diagnose a blown headgasket.

seriously i think your best off if you cant see any leaks to take it to a mechanic and let them get it on a hoist to properly check it over,its not worth messing with water leaks,if something does go,and you lose your water,your engine will be in serious trouble

[JDM_VTIR]

if your radiator was losing that much water you would see the leak,so (without me being able to see it) id say its not the radiator.
like people said,heat car up with radiator cap on and see if you can see a leak anywhere...mechanics have a pressurising pump thingy that can go on the radiator to pressurise the system,then if any coolant comes out you can see where the leak is.
To be losing that much without having a puddle on the floor is strange....would lead me to thinking it could be:
-head gasket,does the car stutter for a few seconds when you start it (because water is getting into the cylinder),i don't think a head gasket could let that much water in so its unlikely.
-feel underneath your dash,your heater core could possibly be leaking if its wet anywhere under there (heater core is above passenger foot well)
Anywhere else,losing that much water,you should be able to see where the water is going...it cant just come out of your radiator and overflow bottle then disapear.



if this is the case you can normally just take your oil dipstick out and check the quality of your oil,it will look milky if there is coolant in it,which is a good indicator of a blown headgasket

thanks for all the input guys. i changed my oil last week. oil is fine. so i doubt its the head gasket. i've just changed to a new radiator today. seems to be fine at this point. i'll have to do a little more driving to see what happens next.

ps: there was a puddle of coolant under the car. i didn't say there wasn't any.

[NAY]

i understand this,but we are looking at why he is losing water,not discussing all the ways to diagnose a blown headgasket.

seriously i think your best off if you cant see any leaks to take it to a mechanic and let them get it on a hoist to properly check it over,its not worth messing with water leaks,if something does go,and you lose your water,your engine will be in serious trouble

I was just suggesting that maybe he shouldn't discount a blown head gasket if the oil is not milky...



Was the puddle under the overflow bottle side of the car per chance?

[JohnL]

thanks for all the input guys. i changed my oil last week. oil is fine. so i doubt its the head gasket. i've just changed to a new radiator today. seems to be fine at this point. i'll have to do a little more driving to see what happens next.

ps: there was a puddle of coolant under the car. i didn't say there wasn't any.

Because the oil is not contaminated with coolant doesn't mean the head gasket is necessarily OK. Compression and combustion pressures from inside the cylinder (very high!) can leak directly into the water jacket without there being any damage to the head gasket in an area that would allow coolant and oil to mix.

It sounds more and more likely to me that you do have a head gasket issue. The water jacket is being 'hyper pressurised' from the cylinder pressures and the excess jacket pressure is then escaping (as best it can) through the relief valve in the rad cap to the overflow bottle. As it does this it's taking coolant with it and filling the overflow bottle to overflowing. When the engine cools down there isn't enough coolant in the full overflow tank to refill the radiator (because it's been spilled on the ground when on the move), and the rad will be low on coolant.

In this sort of instance you will also be losing some coolant down the exhaust pipe (because pressurised coolant will flow back into the cylinder when cylinder pressures are lower or negative, i.e on the induction stoke and toward the end of the exhaust stroke). However, the amount you lose down the pipe is likely to pale in comparison to what you're losing out of the overflow.

I certainly hope I'm wrong for your sake, but I doubt it.

[NAY]

I think you very much summed up what i was trying to suggest johnl.

Exactly the same problem that happened with the last car I had. After you would park it there would be a little puddle under the overflow from it overflowing. Once it cooled down and recovered the coolant back to the radiator the bottle would be near empty.

[JDM_VTIR]

the puddle was actually on the right side of the car & sometimes on the left. everything seems to be okay atm. i'm gona replace my head gasket soon anyway. it's been due for replacement for awhile now. cheers.