I have a 02 cavalier 2.2 it just started leAking coolant when in a drive thru. Steam started coming up from hood. When I looked under the hood the expansion tank was hissing and it looked like the antifreeze was coming out of the overflow tube at the top of the tank. What should I do? It is sitting still at the parking lot
View 3 RepliesChanged coolant expansion tank and coolant, engine lite came on. Scanner says coolant problems. What can it be. ECU is not recognizing new tank.
Car passat 1.8, M/T, 05, coolant was changed with the pink coolant from dealership, system was flushed and bleeded. Car is NOT overheating, temperature is showing as usual.
Last week during a hot/long day on the road, my engine temp gauge started fluctuating between 1/2 and almost 7/8 on the gauge. The weird thing was that it was fairly stable most of the time, but every 10 minutes or so, it would heat up, and spend bout 15 seconds at the high mark before dropping down again. It didn't seem to be related to rpm, A/C operation, or driving intensity. When I got home, and let it cool down, I checked the coolant level. I couldn't see any coolant in the radiator, but the expansion tank was nearly full. I guess the low coolant level can explain the symptoms above, but I can't figure out what is happening to the coolant.
I took the car to a mechanic and had a pressure test, which didn't show any leakage. I had a new thermostat and radiator cap installed. They flushed the system, and tested the hose between the expansion tank and radiator. After driving the car home, the coolant in the radiator had already dropped to the point where I couldn't see it, and the expansion tank was 3/4 full. Now, I am planning to keep track of the levels of both reservoirs (and refilling the radiator of course) to see if the fluid is leaking, or if it is just not returning from the expansion tank. Hopefully this bit of knowledge should locate the problem.
The successful pressure test leads me to believe that it isn't leaking externally. However, I'm wondering if there is a small enough leak that wouldn't be detected by the pressure test, but is significant enough that it would allow air in when the engine cools instead of pulling the fluid back from the expansion tank.
Have a 2002 V6 in the family that's losing coolant at a rate of about an expansion tank every 3 -4 weeks.
I have searched all around with a flashlight, don't see any signs of coolant residue near the radiator, expansion tank or cap, water pump, or heater core connections. Heater core does not smell like coolant. Exhaust does not smell sweet or does not steam once the car is warmed up.
I pressure tested the cooling system on up to 18-20 PSI and still can't find any evidence of anything leaking out anywhere.
I'm going to change the upper and lower radiator hoses this weekend in the thought that maybe it's a pinhole leak once hot and under pressure (I pressure tested cold). Any common things I'm missing where it may leak?
2007, 4.0L, Explorer, 113,000 mi. Week ago noticed coolant expansion tank empty while hot and cold. Looked inside ex. tank and looked like it had not seen any action in a while. Looked inside radiator and coolant level was about 1 inch to 1.5 inches below bottom of rad. cap would be...approx. level with rad. seam, where black plastic top of rad. attaches to metal portion of rad. I filled expan. tank to "cold fill" line. Kept an eye on it while doing light, around town driving. The expan. tank level (cold-fill) didn't change.
Friday, my wife returned from work (30 mi., interstate drive). After being parked for 45 mins, went out to find fluid puddle at very front of car. Expansion tank was empty. Looked in radiator, and it was about one inch to inch and a half below bottom of rad cap...about level with rad seam, where the black plastic top is attached to metal. I topped off the rad. this time, along with filling expan. tank to cold-fill line. Turn car on, and after warming up coolant starting coming out from what appeared to be the seam at the top of the rad., where the black plastic portion meets the metal part of the rad.
I recently bought a 2003 VW jetta 1.8T with 150,000 miles on it. After the purchase I got about 20 miles down the road and it overheated. I noticed there was oil in the expansion tank. I replaced the head and head gasket on the vehicle. As i was taking everything off I noticed that there was green coolant in the car. WhenI took the head off the pistons were glazed over and a lot of things were charred.
So I cleaned everything and put the new head and gasket on. After everything i cleaned the expansion tank of the oil and put new coolant in. After I drove it around for a little bit and everything seemed fine and there was no oil mixing with coolant. So I left got another 20 miles down the road and it started steaming and the overheated light came on. I checked the engine and there was no oil in the expansion take but the coolant was just pulsing it wasn't a constant flow.
When I fuel up and open the cap on the filler neck I always hear a hiss. Never could figure if it was pressure or vacuum. Today, after changing oil, I opened my fuel filter bleeder to check for water and it just started slurping and gurgling with no diesel coming out. I lowered the truck, removed the fuel tank filler cap and heard the hiss. Raised back up and opened the filter bleeder and diesel came out. I now know the hiss is a vacuum. Is this normal? If this tank is vented I have a problem somewhere.
View 6 Replies1995 Chevy Lumina 3.1L Sedan with ~182K mi
Over the past 6 months, I have noticed fuel odor just about any time I turn off the vehicle, and I am also experiencing progressively higher levels of fuel tank pressure each time I remove the fuel cap. The fuel tank pressure seems to be greater the lower the level of fuel in the tank whenever I remove the cap. 6 months ago (~Sept) it was only a slight "hissing" periodically when removing the cap to fuel up, but now it occurs at every fill up and seems to have enough pressure to push the cap entirely off had I not been careful to slowly loosen the cap to relieve the pressure.
The entire fuel pump and sending unit assembly in addition to the tank and filter were all replaced about 4 years ago in May 2010 or about 28K mi ago. The issue has just come up progressively over the last 6 months.
Today, I inspected the evap. emission components and lines from the tank to the canister to the purge solenoid mounted on the rear of the engine. All lines are connected and seem to be in operable condition. The line from the canister to the purge valve mounted on the engine is completely free with no obstructions. I blew out the line with compressed air and absolutely no exiting particulates were observed. The lines on the bottom of the canister did not show any signs of wet fuel and there were no carbon particles present in the lines from what I could tell from disconnecting and inspecting. The vapor line from the tank to the carbon canister is not kinked or pinched in any manner.
I believe there is a fuel vapor check valve that resides inside the tank connected to the fuel pump assembly/sending unit. This was all replaced as a single unit as mentioned above. I am thinking this check valve may not be functioning properly and not allowing the vapor to escape into the carbon canister. I tried to apply slight pressure and vacuum on the vapor line connected to the check valve on the tank but no air was able to move in or out even with the gas cap off. However, I do have a full tank of gas right now, so I imagine the check valve will be closed.
The check engine light is not on but since this is an OBDI vehicle I am not sure there are any evap. emission codes anyway.
How can I test the gas tank vapor check valve? How can I test the vapor purge solenoid located on the rear of the engine? What malfunctioning component could be causing the excessive fuel tank pressure.
Bought a 1988 Toyota Celica GT Convertible. I am losing coolant. So far I have done the following: used a leak down pressure tester that shows I have a leak; looked under car for leak and didn't find one, put UV test fluid in radiator, doesn't show any external leaks and doesn't detect any coolant in exhaust; there is not coolant dripping from the heater (passenger side floor); the car does not overheat - the temp gauge shows it in the middle; the car runs great; just had emissions tested and passed with flying colors.
View 12 RepliesI have a 2006 Prius. I must admit that I've never been satisfied with the A/C performance, but now I'm even less impressed.
I had the A/C system serviced at an "after market" place as our dealership calls them (about 2 weeks ago). They added just under a half pound of coolant, oil, and UV dye. The system was much improved after the "after market" shop serviced it and stayed that way right up until it stopped cooling. Two days ago, the A/C stopped cooling and I'm in town so I stop by the dealer. They do the same basic checks I did with the same results - checked the fuses-OK, checked the lines and connections with a UV emitter-OK.
They evacuated the system - removing 0.16 pounds of whatever was left in the system - and recharged the system with 1.06 pounds of 134a, etc.
Neither of us could detect a leak, assuming there was actually dye in the system.
There is no problem with the compressor .
They see no other issues with the A/C system, it was just out of coolant.
Where did the coolant go and why is there no visible evidence of a leak?
Aside from monitoring its effectiveness and checking for dye leaks, is there anything else I should check?
Should the sight glass have enough dye exposed to detect inside the system with the UV emitter?
What should I see (or not see) in the sight glass?
Just had to replace the steel line that runs from the motor to the firewall with a rubber heater hose due to the steel line rusting through and spraying coolant around. (i left a steel section above the head along the firewall due to heat concerns. I refilled the system through the reservoir but I hear coolant sloshing around in the heater core and the low coolant light is popping up.
The coolant is not low in the reservoir but I really do not feel like the lines were filled when I added coolant to it after the repair.
The temp sensor indicated the car was running normal temp range and the car ran fine when I gave it a 6 mile test drive following the repair. No leaks in the new hoses.
So, whenever I park the car after a trip it always leaks fluid when the A/C was on which I know is normal but now it seems to leak a lot more and I'm wondering if that's where all my coolant goes. Where exactly does it drip from from the A/C? Is that somewhere in the cowl?
View 8 RepliesAve an 02 Camry 4 Cly
Noticed small puddle of coolant under the car - then noticed overflow empty and radiator a little low on fluid. Noted some coolant below the thermostat.
After filling back to proper levels, ran engine for a while with no apparent leaking. Took a couple of short trips and inspected after each trip and no leaking noticed.
Checked several hours later and noted coolant below thermostat housing and on ground. After a couple more trip noted coolant level dropping again.
What would cause fluid to leak after engine shut down? Could be coming from another location, but my attention is on the thermostat at present.
A couple years ago noticed the coolant + inverter reservoir was on the low side. Took it to the dealer who pressure tested it and didn't find anything wrong, added a bit, and said good to go. Roughly 55,000 miles.
Today at close to 85,000 miles the coolant in both the radiator tank and the inverter is again touching the "L" mark. They were filled up to the middle/almost topped off after the dealer visit.
Just curious if others have had this issue and/or where to look. I haven't touched the coolant since purchasing at 42,000 miles in 2011.
This is the only issue I've had with this car so far. But it scares me, as coolant loss can be a big deal! Something as small as this isn't as concerning unless it's leaking some place I don't know about, or being consumed in the engine.
My prius has a coolant leak, which look like it's coming from the throttle body. The stealership recommends a new throttle body. The mechanic said he has not seen coolant leak from the throttle body before. Is this the only fix to replace the throttle body?
View 8 RepliesA few months ago I purchased a 1990 735il and have had cooling problems with it ever since. It started with intermittent leaking at the seam where the lower radiator hose meets the thermostat housing. Eventually, the lower radiator hose blew out. I replaced it, but as soon as I started the car it immediately overheated. My next step was to change the thermostat. (Note: When I removed the old thermostat it was obvious that the person who had installed it had snipped off the inner portion of the thermostat. I don't know why someone would do this, but I figured it must have some significance). When that was done I thought I had solved the problem. The car drove perfectly on a 50 mile drive after replacing the thermostat. A few days later I was sitting at idle and the car began overheating again. I shut it down, let it cool off and drove home without issue. It now seems to run fine and the temp gauge stays at 12:00 as long as I keep driving, but when at idle it seems to overheat.
It should also be noted that there seems to be some oil getting into the coolant system. I am making plans to replace the head gasket at this point, but only seems to be a one way problem as there is no evidence that coolant is getting into the oil.
I got a 99 v6 passat and it looks like I'm leaking coolant from the back of the engine, like under the TB.
View 2 Replies2003 Pontiac Montana 3.4 L
225000 Kms
Intake Gasket replaced already at 60,000 kms (yes a while ago)
Recently, noticed a major external coolant leak at the front of the motor (passenger side). It only leaks when at operating temperature and under pressure. It does not leak when you first start the engine, it takes a while before it leaks.
I replaced the rad cap, just in case it was faulty. Upon the second test, after getting it running good and hot, it leaked again. But only when at operating temp. It is not overheating.
Problem is, as the coolant is leaking out, the main drive belt is splashing the coolant all over the place and thus I am having a heck of a time pinpointing if it is a head gasket or intake manifold leak or perhaps somewhere else.
I can't take things apart to get a better view, because it needs to be running at operating temp to get the leak. If I pull anything apart for a better view, I won't be able to start the engine to reproduce the leak.
I'm sitting at my Toyota dealer where I bought the car 3 weeks ago. My car is in because it needs to have the engine coolant pump replaced due to a leak. Is this a common fix for the gen 2 Prius? Fortunately this is getting covered under warranty.
View 4 RepliesMy 97 Concorde 3.5 w/ 223k developed a second coolant leak from the front of the engine. Using a pressure tester I found it was leaking from the water pump housing o-ring (pass side) and also the o-ring behind the water pump itself. I did this exact repair 3 years ago including new pump! I do everything meticulously so this has me a bit frustrated. I've got it all torn down and cleaned up real nice, except there seems to be a lot of pitting in the o-ring grooves on the back of the water pump housing, mainly the large one.Can I use high temp RTV oil-resistant sealant in the grooves and then put the new O-rings in to make sure they don't leak from the pitting?
Also, I found the cam thrust plates to have hard, cracked seals.
I was changing the engine coolant on my 2005 Prius today. When I went to fill up the tanks, I noticed a small pool of coolant right under the filler pipe. I thought I might have overfilled something, but when I jiggled the filler pipe, I heard an air leak. It looks like there is a bad seal between the filler pipe and the radiator. I also noticed that my coolant recovery tank was empty. I never noticed this before so I don't know if this issue is related.
View 12 Replies