Alneg77

I have read up a lot on hear about coolant leaks. My symptoms are pretty similar to everyone else as far as loss of heat and heat gauge moving up and down. I am willing to attempt to replace my head gasket, but before I do I have done some more trouble shooting and I would like your opinions:

I lose basically a quart of coolant very quickly in roughly 15 to 20 min of driving. I never seem to loose any more than a quart even after checking it a few days a few weeks or even a month. I DO NOT have the typical signs of a wearing or worn head gasket. I don't necessarily have a visible leak however the left side of my engine basically the open space near the thermostat housing on down and including the radiator fan and all the surrounding areas are coated in coolant. I tried cleaning the engine but the next day the engine is covered in coolant again. I also have noticed steam coming from the radiator roughly in the area of the bigger fan.

Recently I replaced my thermostat and in the process I broke the housing. I bought a new housing without the fan sensor and just used the old sensor. However the sensor mounted flush to the inside of the old housing, but in the new housing the sensor is recessed. I used thread tape and tighten it pretty well and have not noticed any dripping. Since I replaced the housing the radiator fan does not work. I wonder if the coolant cant reach the sensor anymore and the fan doesn't turn on.

Anyway as long as I keep my rpm high during my 30 mile commute to work the heat works fine and I never overheat, so although I lose some coolant right away I never lose any more. Thoughts?

mikey1

assuming your rad cap is not leaking, i would say your coolant overflow bottle is literally overflowing with coolant while you are driving, thats where all the coolant is going,

check your overflow bottle after you drive, i would bet its full right to the top, and this is the number one sign of a blown head gasket

Alneg77

Actually the over flow bottle is empty. Its always empty. However I should replace the cap, it is 12yrs old and only $10. I would love for that to be the problem.

mikey1

how long has it been empty for?

do you ever fill it up?

is the hose going from the rad to the bottle plugged?

Alneg77

I will admit I haven't really paid much attention. Recently I have been putting in a little. I always assumed it was for overflow and that I didn't need to add to it. Its usually hard for me to see how much is in there. Would it make sense for me to make sure its at the fill line and pay more attention to it?

ezone

Use a strong flashlight and shake the bottle.


Radiator is supposed to always stay completely full to the top under all conditions.
The overflow bottle needs to be filled to the max line (never completely full).

The radiator cap, the small hoses, and the reservoir (overflow bottle) all need to be in good condition in order to be able to push fluid into and suck fluid out of the reservoir as the liquid in the radiator expands and contracts with engine temperature.

Alneg77

Ok that will be my next step. Thank you. Ill let you guys know what happens.