All antifreeze leaked from car? What do I do to fix?

[fantasy08]

My car-1999 Mercury Sable GS


Yesterday my car needle was fluctuating from the middle to the C a lot, and when it would stay on the C the car would jerk. This went on all day. Last night my gaslight came on so I stopped to get gas and that's when I noticed water coming from my car. I popped the hood and it had no fluid so I put some antifreeze in. I poured pretty much the whole jug. My needle went back to the middle and stayed there, and I thought everything was fine.

This morning I went to my car and all the antifreeze was gone. Every drop. So apparently I have a leak. What can I personally do about this? I'll use a mechanic as a last resort.

Would this do for now? http://www.walmart.com/search/search...20leak&_tt=rad if so which one would be good to use for now.

Are the cooling system and the radiator the same thing or are they separate things that work together? If I go to a mechanic should I go to one that specializes in all parts of a car or just a mechanic that specializes in the radiator?


Also according to a mechanic friend of the family I have two other problems with my car. Loud screeching comes from my car sometimes especially when I turn, and also my car is really loud.

Turns out I need a muffler and a ball joint. Apparently the latter comes in upper and lower, and I have no idea if I should get one of the other or both. He said it was my front. So I guess that's another world for upper isn't it?

If I had to choose between getting the ball joints, fixing the leak, or getting a muffler which one should I choose first?

Also the service engine soon light has been going off and on for some time now. Is that because of the three problems above or something smaller?

[SleepyHead98]

Sounds like you got quite a fixerupper. Fix the leak first, drive carefully, then ball joint, then muffler.

If car overheats its donefor. balljoint is a safety issue eventually, but it usually takes a very long time. Muffler is more of an annoyance.

Plz do not use stop leak. It is bad news. Fix the leak by replacing parts/gaskets etc.

As far as finding the leak, its pretty simple. Put distilled water in it till full, (I say water because your probably going to have to dump the system anyway and yes, distilled not tap water as it changes the chemistry of the coolant.) Park it on a level ground, start her up and look for drops coming from the bottom of the car, then back track them up to where they are coming from. Use a flashlight it helps. Put cardboard down if it will make it easier to find the puddles.

[fantasy08]

Fixer upper indeed.

New problems-

Car-1999 Mercury Sable GS

Went in the store today for five minutes. Came out. Went to car and turned the intuition to go and it sputtered like it wanted to turn over but couldn't quite do so. Service engine soon light came on immediately.(It was off at first) Got out and took off and reconnected the battery cable that's toward the drivers side(since for some time now that's what I have to do to get it to turn over sometime), and still nothing.

I kept doing this for about 30 minutes and the car kept trying to turn over. Then all of a sudden the sound of it trying got lower and lower until it, well for lack of a better word, died. It won't crank at all. Not even the sputtering it does when it's trying to turn over. I get NOTHING now. There is no cranking at all to be had.

What's weird though is that the headlights,radio, and overhead interior lights still come on. Also the battery is brand new. Barely 3 weeks old. So if all those things are still working it can't be the battery can it? What's going on? Starter?(This has been replaced. Barely a year old.) Alternator? Fuel-pump? etc.. What is it this time?

What's ironic is that I was going to autozone right after my stop at the store to get the service engine soon light read so I could have a more pinpoint reference on what is going on with my car,but now I can't even do that until I can get it to start again. Now it's stuck on a parking lot until I can get a tow truck to bring it back to my house. ;(

This is just another expensive and time consuming bs thing on a long list of things wrong with my car all of a sudden.

Antifreeze leaks completely out,but if I put water instead it leaks really, really, really slowly.
Car screeches like a nail on chalkboard. Especially on turns. So apparently I need ball joints.
It's also really loud. So now I guess I need a muffler.

I found the parts I apparently need on amazon and ebay for wayyyyy cheaper than what auto-zone etc wants for them. Is it a good idea to buy parts from these websites?

I'm seriously thinking it's time for me to look into a new(used) car.

Also how bad or good is this- My mileage as of right now.
Top number-4035
Bottom Number-179243

[aleekat]

1) Doesn't matter if your battery is only 3 weeks old. Sounds like you killed it. You probably got charging issues. Try and jump start it.
2) Antifreeze leak. Autozone has "loan a tool". Ask for coolant pressure tester. Fill it up. Connect the tester to coolant bottle. Couple of pumps to about 15psi, and look for leaks.