coolant issue

[h_bodyfreek]

Ok guys i am having a brain freeze on this one. I am leaking collant from somewhere but no sure where.i can fill my tank and about every 4 days my coolant light comes back on. now i have checked hoses and heater core and all the obvious things. I see no leakage anywhere in the engine compartment but once and a while get a coolant smell in the interior while heat is running. I have a brand new coolant recovery tank and new thermostat . it is getting quite expensive to run the car with the dexcool antifreeze at 10- a gallon every 4 days or so. I ran some bars leak through the system and it worked for about a month or two and now the cold set in and im back to square one. Can someone think of anything else i could be missing. if it also helps my ac clutch is shot i think dunno if that would burn up antifreeze or not though.

[ManktheTank19]

Well I had a leaking core problem to and recently got it fixed. Before I got it fixed, I put coolant in it and 2 seconds later it will be flowing down the driveway. So instead of wasting money on coolant, I just put water in there and look from my hood and under my car where it was leaking.
We thought it was either:
-Heating Core (it was)
-Water pump
-Radiator
-Hoses going to and from heating core, water pump, and radiator

It has to be one of those and 3 out of the 4 are expensive!! :(

[nice96gt]

I noticed you have the 3100...check to see if your oil is perhaps a milky brown colour. If it is then you have the notorious lower intake manifold gasket leak. If not, check to see f there is an external leak anywhere and let us know. Maybe we can help pinpoint the problem. Coolant doesn't just disappear on its own.

[rixGAphx]

As nice96 said, coolant doesn't disappear on its own.

You *probably* do have the notorious LIM gasket leak, which is about $600-700US to repair.
Do a 'search', you'll find many threads about this.

There are two ways in which the LIM gasket fails:
* The coolant leaks inward, and flows down into the crankcase; this turns the oil into a chocolatey milkshake kinda mess.
* The coolant leaks outward, and flows down the ends of the heads and block.

In your particular case (and as my '96 3.1 did), the gasket has probably failed at the head end(s) of the LIM.
Everytime the system gets hot and pressurized, a little coolant leaks out and dribbles down onto the end of the head. The head is so hot that the liquid evaporates immediately and you never see a puddle or wetness on the metal.
But, it does leave a dark stain where the additives in the DexCool remain behind when the water disappears.

A radiator shop will have a device for pressurizing the cooling system, and this will probably show where the coolant is leaking.
* * *
I think if your heater core failed (and they DO fail, since they're junk) you would be smelling the antifreeze all the time.
Also, you would see the dribble on the garage floor (the leakage is usually caught by the drain pan, which empties thru a plastic tube onto the ground in front of the driver's feet).
* * *
Finally, and most expensively, you *might* have a blown head gasket.
Especially if your engine boiled-over within the past several months, and ran for even a minute or two 'dry'.
The intense heat can cause the head(s) to warp a little, and this releases the compression force that is clamping the gasket. With less force, coolant makes its way under the gasket and thus out of the cooling system.
Again, the coolant can go several places: Inward and then down into the crankcase, or outward down the block, or into a cylinder.

A compression test (of the cylinders) will show if there's a leak into a cylinder; a cooling system pressure test will show if there's a leak into the crankcase or out onto the block.

Again, if it's inot the crankcase the oil will be a milkshake, and if it's out to the block it may drip onto the ground or may just evaporate.
* * *
Waterpumps are DESIGNED to leak a *little* bit. There's a weep hole on the 'snout' of the pump so that the small amount of coolant that gets past the internal seal can drip out. This should only be a drop or two per day, and it leaves a little 'tear stain' behind on the pump.
When this seal fails, coolant can just gush out; but, you see it gush when the engine is running, and there's so much that it doesn't evaporate, it dribbles onto the garage floor.
* * *

Finally, the plastic radiator side tanks can develop a small split that eventually grows into a large leak.
This especially happens if the coolant level dropped really low and the plastic got 'baked' by hot air.
This can happen to either tank but seems more prevalent to the driver's side tank, and there will be a slight bulge where the plastic expanded before it split.
* * *
I *assume* you have a new pressure cap with the new reservoir, and that you don't overtighten it.
* * *
Unless you can see a puddle or liquid on a surface, I think you need to go to a shop to have them locate which major component is leaking.

Lots of possiblities here, and all are expensive.
Make sure you find the actual problem, rather than throwing money at educated guesses.

Good luck.
-Rick

[h_bodyfreek]

ok guys well for one no i did not buy a new cap for the tank and i know its not internal cause my oil is normal i change it every 2500 with synthetic and looks the same all the time<not milky>. I know the first time this happend i was at stop and shop grocery store and my girlfriend noticed it. we came out and there was the entire tank full od collant under my car somewhere form the passenger side of the vehicle and it hasnt leaked that bad again but is still leaking from somewhere just not sure where.