Helllp coolant is going somewhere

[falvo321]

ok last wensday the rdiator cap blew apart bought a new one filled he damn thing ok thursday filld again friday filled again saturday filled again and today filled again any ideas? when the cap blew i had to drive with it rigged to the sotre for w new one and there was coolant all over but new cap no leaks as i can see but the new cap it very hard to get off and on any ideas this is ony car and need it badly

[thephantom1492]

First, check oil. Or it could go in the intake/exaust...

[falvo321]

the oil is fine and like i said no problems until i got a new coolant cap. now i have ot add coolant he last three days dont see any leaks but if its going into the intake as long as i keep it full will it be o for awhile?

[thephantom1492]

There is a few reasons for coolant to dissapear
- leak to oil, will cause engine damage
- leak to intake, can cause harder start, can cause catalytic converter failure, causing a check engine light and failing emission tests
- leak to exaust, usually cause air to get in the coolant
- If you ran out of coolant, you might have air pockets in the engine, that will cause the coolant to "dissapear" when those pockets fills up. Overheating can occur since it block the flow of coolant.
- External leak. May not always be visible, can be in an hard to see spot (behind the engine for example) and too little, causing it to have time to evaporate. May cause a smell, or wetness on the passenger side floor (heater core failure, it's located on the passenger side, inside the car...)
- Evaporate due to coolant boiling which can happend simply with a pressure leak, the system need to be pressurised (it self pressurise) to not boil, also need proper coolant, not plain water. plain water might have more energy capacity, but boil at a lower temperature...
- Leak to the transmission. The radiator have a transmissing cooling line going to it, which is basically a simple pipe going in and out of it. If that pipe break inside the radiator, it could leak to the transmission. However I think it's more transmission oil to the coolant...

Depending on the issue on why the coolant is always low, it can range from no damage to very expensive damage...

Figure out where the coolant go, and you will be able to know the danger of it.

BTW, if it's a 6 cylinders, and it ran out of coolant... air pockets will be there, and are extremelly hard to remove. One way is to bring the engine to it's temperature, then raise alot the front of the car and keep the engine at a high RPM. A good way to raise the front is to use a basement garage, the slope is your friend. Why does it need to be at working temp? so the thermostat open. Why rev up? The pump turn faster, causing more flow and pressure, helping to push on the air. Why raising the front? bad engine design imo. some bents in the engine coolant passage have an high spot, causing air to be unable to flow to the "exit". raising the front cause the air to shift more to the "exit", then the flow and pressure cause it to actually flow out.

[falvo321]

I noticed todayt the its is running form the back of the motor but i cant see where oil fine car doesn over heat starts fine but also when the cap blew i had to drive about 12blocks to the store for a new one and when i shut off the car antifreeze was all over hte ground as if it was poured could it be a build up of air? so far it ok also noticed today after it was parked for about 1/5hr there was a larger spot on ground ugghh this is bs need car to make it till tax time

[thephantom1492]

you broke a gasket, or the gasket broke, causing leak, loss of pressure, lower boiling temperature, causing the coolant to boil, explosivelly expand, causing the cap to blow.

But in all case, if it just leak, and do not overheat or boil, then it might be ok to drive it still, providing that you don't run out of coolant...

Next time... park the car! Don'T continue to drive your car, you could have killed the engine. Chance is that you damaged the gasket due to the overheating that resulted from that cap issue.

[falvo321]

ok let me refraze this the cap blew apart when i took it off it just broke srping and all came out not while i was driveing hte car so it wasnt boiling over and the temp didnt go up i put the cap on so i could get to the store and get a new one so that isnt the reason it broke the top came off and i had to pry it off to get it out of the bottle so could hte bottle be not fitting the cap properly on the coolant bottle. I realized it sounded like i was driveing iwth the cap blonw out .

[thephantom1492]

oh ok, then 2 different issues then...
Thanks for the rephrasing, it really did sounded like you drove without it and all...

Ideally, you want the gasket replaced. If it's a small leak, you could try to use one of those leak blocker thing bottle, I however advice against as it sometime block some small passages, accumulate in the worse place... But... it's cheaper than a gasket replacement and may work... or not...

Considering the age of the car, it's probably not that bad if something bad happend, as the car is old...

[falvo321]

ok pump doesnt leak if just water but add an antifreeze and it leaks like crazy im pretty sure its the water pump. I fill it every other day in the morning when its cool. Its leaking off the frame and from behind hte pump. I know i cant fix it myself as i have a herniated disk in my back and torn sjoints in my shoulder so any quick fix i keep it filled car does not over heat and i only run it very little. would a bottle of bars leak help it or not I need it to keep going until the end of Febuary atleast

[Tech II]

This the quad 4?

It's about a 5 hour job, if you know what you are doing........

Chances are, it's coming out of the weep hole of the pump......

Doubt any kind of sealer would help, in this situation......w/p pump on a 3.1/3.4 comes off in 10 minutes or less.....quad four is a nightmare involving the timing chain....

[falvo321]

do you think if i keep it filled and only use it very little it will last a while becasue the wifey needs to get to work. It doesnt over heat and i fill the coolant tank every morning oto almost he top so it wont run dry. Im trying to get someone to fix it as the wife nor i can do it she wont becasue it involves the timeing chain.

[Tech II]

Well, no one can truly predict this.......

You fill it to the top, which is not good, because it leaves no room for expansion, and will actually force the coolant out faster, making the leak worse......if you fill it just to the cold level mark, how much does it drop in a day? How many miles does the car go round trip?

[falvo321]

if i fil it to the cool level it wil drip alot but i can usualy get to work store and home about 10-15 miles round trip then it will take about another half day before i have to fill it again the car does not overheat the heat is good and im stumped im assuming its the water pump but im not sure.

[thephantom1492]

water pump are known to leak at their end of their life. Actually, I beleive that there is more pump replaced due to leak than mechanical failure...

[falvo321]

Hi this is corys wife and i dont understand the temp guage yeah i know stupid but ok it goes up to the4th line past the 200. today it seems like it was makeing a clikcing noise yes i know m,y car a has a coolant leak somewhere think its the pump no money to fix it and im ready to cry but how high could i let it go i know its high but plz need this car for work only abut 6 miles a day round trip. If i just add water it leaks very little antifreeze goes right through it y