Coolant Missing

[91SHOplusPI]

I needed to see, if anyone knows where the coolant might be going.

I have no signs of leaking underneath.

I have no smoke from exhaust.

any ideas?

 

[SHOZ123]

Radiator tank on the drivers side. Only leaks when cold. That's my guess.

 

[91SHOplusPI]

You mean passenger side..?

My overflow bottle is on passenger side, and always has the same amount of coolant.

The radiator is low.

I assume its somewhere else, I checked the carpet and its dry

 

[SHOZ123]

No the drivers side. It does not leak a lot but when cold if you look at the bottom of the tank it may be wet.

If the radiator cap is bad it will not pull antifreeze back into the radiator from the over flow tank when it cools down. It will also not allow a pressure build up so much more coolant will pushed out into the over flow tank as the coolant heats up..

 

[91SHOplusPI]

Maybe the problem is my car has the overflow on passenger side, drivers side has 2 computers that take up all the room.????

 

[Howdy_Doody]

My radiator was leaking out of the Driver's side tank (at the bottom). The leak was only noticeable when I stopped at a gas station 5 minutes from my house. The rest of the time it was not leaking. I got a new one off ebay for $90.

 

[93rev2sev]

There are 2 tanks. Passenger side and drivers side. There is only one overflow bottle...passenger side.

 

[rubydist]

My red 94 had a slightly loose upper radiator hose at the engine end. Once a month I would have to refill the overflow tank. It would only leak very slightly, and would never puddle or drip, and the engine heat always evaporated it, so I never saw any coolant when the engine had cooled. One day I opened the hood with the engine hot and saw the coolant on the top of the engine. Tightened the clamp and the leak vanished.

 

[K-Dawg]

Maybe the problem is my car has the overflow on passenger side, drivers side has 2 computers that take up all the room.????

He is talking about the radiator end tank. The seam where the plastic end tank meets the metal radiator core tends to leak.

Your best bet is to get a pressure tester from AutoZone to find where your leak is at.

 

[itwonder]

X2 rent a pressure tester and see if your system will hold pressure for 2 minutes. That will expose any small leaks. You can pressure test your cap too, but I'd just go ahead and replace it with a new Motorcraft cap (skip other brands) for about $6.

 

[91SHOplusPI]

Thanks everyone!

I will go rent a pressure tester.

 

[SHOZ123]

If it is the tank then it leaks when there is no pressure. As the pressure builds up the plastic tank expands and seals to the foam gasket.

You really need to crawl under there when the car has been sitting overnight and the engine is cold and take a look for wet spots.

 

[91SHOplusPI]

I know exactly what your talking about now.

My RX7 did that once, but never sealed back up when pressure builds..

any reason, the drivers side leaks more often?:thankyou:

 

[SHOZ123]

The drivers side receives the hottest water so expands and contracts more is my guess. My '97 leaked there too and a brand new radiator for my '93 leaked like crazy when the temp got below 0F.

 

[AREA 91]

You could also check the throttle body coolant lines. Sometimes these leak slightly, and when they do, they can be very hard to track down.

I would first start at the radiator as suguested.