low coolant

[JustinBTE]

Hey guys. i have a 99 ga se 2.4. its got about 113K miles on it and about a 1000 milkes ago i got my coolant flushed and it seems like ever since that i have slowly been going through coolant. Im not leaking coolant anywhere (as far as i can see) and im not getting any coolant in my oil (referring to head gasket problems). also when i looked around the coolant resevoir i was checking all the hoses and i noticed one hose thats connected to the resevoir up top right by the cap isnt connected to anything. is this a breather hose or is it supposed to be connected to something. it seems odd thats its just kind of hanging out there.

Also my service engine soon light came on about a week ago and i got it checked and they said it was my bank 1 sensor 2 O2 sensor. well yesterday the light turned off but my car still gets horrible gas mileage (22-25 highway/city mix) with a steady-light foot. the car also feels like a shakes a little bit at idle.

Anyone have any ideas on my two problems?? Thanks guys

[jcasemore]

Part 1 - That hose is 100% normal. It should be pointed down and preferably away from the paint. If the car really overheats, thats where the steam an coolant comes out.

Part 2 - I just did my waterpump because it was leaking really fast out the weap hole. You might have a slow leak that is boiling off so you don't notice it. If you stand on the passenger side, looking under the hood... Look down just on the other side of the oil filler cap. You should see a cast piece sticking out that covers the waterpump shaft. If you get a little mirror and look at the underside of it, you will see a small hole in the cast metal. Thats where my coolant was coming from. I suspect yours might be coming from there too.

Part 3- did you replace the sensor or just get the code read?

...That was confusing...

[JustinBTE]

ok well i havent had a chance to look around the waterpump area yet but i did notice on my driveway (which is gravel) that there are small spots from coolant leaking so i now know it is actually leaking outside the engine. It's almost looking as if its coming from more the driver side/middle of the car.

as for the sensor, i only had the code read. i havent changed the sensor yet but i figured since the sensor has to heat up so much to work, it must just be going bad and thats what kicked on the SES light for a couple days. I'm just wondering since the light did go off should i still replace it or not