Pissing coolant and will not start.

[Teddie]

Last week after running for a while my 95 Voyager (3 Litre V6) would piss about a cup or so of coolant then stop. Did this 2 or 3 times. It Leaks out the extreme front passenger side of the engine for anyone who was wondering. One shop tightened a hose, but then it did it again. The shop I usually go to said that I cannot fill up the coolant reservoir to the max line since that is where the coolant is when hot, not cold. The engine seems to be running a bit hotter since they drained a little coolant off, but the temperature gauge is normal. What is the story here since I always fill up to the max line. (I seriously doubt it burns coolant.) It has not leaked coolant in a week.

A few minutes ago it would not start, but crank and crank. The distributor wires are all attached and I could not see the problem. Tried again and it fired right up, but I have been noticing that I can smell a bit of gas when I am around it after driving it.

[RIP]

Coolant level should be checked when cold. Level should be between the Hot or Max mark and the Low or Cool mark. "Extreme right front of the passenger side" sounds like the coolant reservoir bottle or pump.

Can you expand on the no starts? Is it usually after it's been sitting, when engine is cold or hot, or have you seen the service engine light come on? Have you checked for fuel or spark when it's not starting? Pull a plug wire off, crank it and touch the wire to the engine block, intake manifold. If equipped and on a cold engine, push the plunger in the fuel test port on the fuel rail. Fuel shirt spirt out, not dribble.

[Teddie]

Yea, I have have always filled the coolant to the max line and never above. The mechanic drained it so the coolant level is now between the min & max line. The not starting happened after this series of events that may have something to do with it.

"7PM turned off van. During night got down to low 40s and at 3PM I went to start it. I turned the key, but my hand slipped right before it could fire up. I then tried again and nothing happened. That is when I checked the engine bay. Second time fired up with a bit of reluctance and might have run a bit rough, but moved in drive alright. Battery is from 8/09."

I am not the most vehicle savvy person by the way, but I am trying to escape that.

[RIP]

I'll assume (7pm - 3pm??) it's not starting after sitting. That could be a sign of a fuel leak. The fuel system should remain pressurised for quite a while so when you eventually start it again there will be enough pressurised fuel to start. Look for any obvious leaks in the engine comartment or in the fuel lines running aft and pump area on the fuel tank. Where is the raw fuel smell the strongest? One common leak point is a fuel injector on the engine.

Best way to confirm you're loosing pressure is to connect a fuel pressure gauge and check the pressure over time. Should stay near 49psi. Autozone will lend them.

Try this: cycle the key two or three times from off to on before you go to start. If it starts easier you may have a leak. When the key is in the on position, the pump turns on momentarily. Essentially you're priming the sytem building pressure.

[Teddie]

Thank you for all your help and I am going to post another few questions since the van is acting up again.