A question on coolant leaks.

[Triton46]

With 110,000 on the clock I found that the reservoir for the radiator is low. Not extremely low, but low. The last time it was filled was about 2 months ago (the dealer overfilled and I had to drain).

It is possible that I drained to much, but it has got me thinking. If I did have coolant leaking into the engine (burning it off), what would be the progression of events?

Obviously more would leak/burn...but could the leak be fixed without a major rebuild? What happens if I let it go (cracked heads, hydro lock, etc)? I am currently in need of a lower manifold gasket repair. My mechanic has offered to replace the lower and upper gaskets as well as the valve cover gaskets during the 'operation'. Could the leak be fixed here?

I'm wondering where a typical coolant leak occurs and if its something easily replaced during what I have outlined above. These types of discussions usually lead to "well while you're at it you should...", just trying to get a feel for what needs to be done. I am planning on rebuilding the engine (depending on condition) at 200,000k.

 

[CADDYBILL]

Look at your radiator. The plastic sides have been known to leak at the seams. That would explain the loss stopping at a certain level. I had the same problem, could not keep the radiator full. It would only stay at a certain level, no higher. Wound up being the radiator seam, one day it failed completely and I lost most of the fluid.

 

[Triton46]

Good call, I had that on my old radiator but this one is new. There is no fluid on the ground, so I know it is not the radiator or the tubes. I suspect either an engine leak or I let too much out when it was warm.

 

[Arnold D.]

I had the heater control valve go out in my 96. It had a small leak that would drip onto the intake and evaporate once the engine was hot. You could smell coolant outside, but the leak was so small it was hard to trace down.