Coolant Issue??

Well I'm the proud owner of a 2000 3.8L V6 GTP (74000 miles). Within the past week or so I've had to add coolant every 3-4 days and I'm getting a little worried. There is no bubbling in the reservoir and no indications on the temp gauge. Changed the thermostat about 2 years ago and also flushed out the coolant system as well. Lately I have been noticing a lot of water coming out of the exhaust (more than usual anyway) and also see a puddle (or few drops) of coolant underneath the car from time to time but nothing regular. Checked the oil and their is no sign of coolant there either. Water pump?? Any help on this would be great, Thanks. Joe

When you say water in the exhaust, do you mean more steam, or water actually coming out of the pipe? What color is your exhaust: blue, white, grey, black (or something else)?

I would tend to think you have a slow coolant leak, hence the drops under your car.

The proper way to check coolant level is at the radiator when engine is cool. You cannot depend on the reservoir. Two possible common areas of external leakage could be the water pump weep hole due to a bad seal or the 90 degree plastic elbow located at the main drive belt tensioner and lower intake manifold.

In a worse case, it is not unheard of for a L67 engine to use excessive coolant internally due to a bad supercharger gasket, mainly the o-ring seals for the coolant passages, lower intake manifold gaskets or possible head gaskets.

Getting condensation out the exhaust can be normal depending on conditions like the weather. Examine the water drops coming out the exhaust tips for any possible signs of coolant. You can tell the difference between water and antifreeze. Due to the CAT convertor internal temperatures coolant normally gets vaporized before it reaches the end of the exhaust system. You may get white smoke.

The liquid coming out of the exhaust is all water and the smoke is white when she's cold. Thank you very much for the help Bob, I will examine things closer. Happy Holidays to ya!

Well I'm the proud owner of a 2000 3.8L V6 GTP (74000 miles). Within the past week or so I've had to add coolant every 3-4 days and I'm getting a little worried. There is no bubbling in the reservoir and no indications on the temp gauge. Changed the thermostat about 2 years ago and also flushed out the coolant system as well. Lately I have been noticing a lot of water coming out of the exhaust (more than usual anyway) and also see a puddle (or few drops) of coolant underneath the car from time to time but nothing regular. Checked the oil and their is no sign of coolant there either. Water pump?? Any help on this would be great, Thanks. Joe
gm has always had intake gasket problems, on 3.1, 3.4 , because i have done a number of my own. it shows up as low coolant light on or car gets hot because coolant will not draw back into the engine when it cools, and engine is low on coolant. after 3 months of buying my new 03 prix w/3.8 - had a warranty mod recall - to tighten 3 thottle body bolts and add a sealant to the coolant system. i complained told them to replace the bad gaskets but they said this is what they do, if you don't want it, just sign off and then there is no warranty for that problem in the future. what you going to do ?? so when i do a gasket repair i always add 1 tablet of coolant sealer when done. as i hear the dealer do the same. prevents comebacks. howsz

Well here's what I discovered: the coolant in the reservoir is now boiling from time to time and there's "slug" all around the 1, 3, and 5 cylinder spark plugs, the car "tick's" when she's cold and smells like burning coolant when she warms up. Still no indication's from the dash of any wrong doing, ya okay. Not seeing anything around the water pump weep hole or the 90 degree plastic elbow located at the main drive belt tensioner and lower intake manifold. My GP still wants another x-mas gift besides the remote start I put in this past weekend so she's going to get it. I'm hanging up the keys for now (don't want to make things worse) and plan on replacing the Supercharger gasket, lower intake manifold gasket, both head gaskets and exhaust gaskets. What do you think? I've read some of the other post's on this and I think that it would be best to replace it all with a better quality gasket's than what GM uses. My "Chilton" recommends replacing the head bolts, is this really necessary? With all this said you think I would be raging mad like other posts you and I have read. S**t happens so what, I still think my GP is worth every penny it just needs a little T-L-C right now, eventually all vehicles do. I hope everyone had a good X-mas!!

On the LIM gaskets I would use the latest GM gaskets which are significantly improved. New as of around May 2004 and aluminum. For an alternative Fel Pro gaskets are good.

The head bolts may be torque to yield TTY so it is recommended to replace all of them when you do headgaskets. On the supercharger and LIM bolts all you need to do is remove the old threadlocker, put on new and they can be reused.

Also, ZZP has complete gasket sets and individual gaskets so check them out.

http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_prix/products.php?id=103