WHERE THE F* is my coolant going?!!

[costa_rican13]

basically my DE had a bad water pump. i replaced it and put just water in there for the time being since i already had coolant in there, solved 1st leak problem. now i got it bled and everything and then i'm driving for a couple weeks. then all of a sudden my temp gauge starts flicking. this is from air bubbles, obviously. so i'm slowly adding pure coolant now every couple days. and i have no idea where the hell the coolant keeps going.

1st its not in my oil. i've already checked and oil is still brown with a hint of gold. It doesnt look like when the head gasket blows and coolant gets in the oil. so ive already figured that out.

2nd i dont see any leaks under the car, and im checking every day, where i park and before i leave.

3rd my coolant resevoir is cracked.but still holds enough(in the middle between max and low).

4th i think my thermostat is locking up and works when it feels like it, because when i drive and stop at a light it sometimes starts getting hot, then i drive and it cools down to normal. then sometimes it doesnt cool down when i take off, and i had to shut off today also coast 1/2 mile, then start car again, and everything was fine.

any advice or places to look guys? i dont know what the heck to do.

[89CoupeVG35]

Sounds weird. The only thing I can think is did you put enough coolant to begin with. Don't mean to sound rude but that could be it. You never know how much is needed when you drain it. Try pumping the upper coolant line when filling the radiator. That allows the coolant to move. Also try running the car while the cap is off the radiator, but not for too long. It would expel air and free up some room.

Other than that, weird.

[ashibah83]

it still could be a bad HG, leaking slowly into the cylinders under pressure and burning through the exhaust, run your car and see if the exhaust smells sweet or is slightly smoking white

[OutToWinPAHC]

Time to use a cooling system pressure tester to see where it's going. Chances are in your oil or out the tailpipe

[OM3GA]

it still could be a bad HG, leaking slowly into the cylinders under pressure and burning through the exhaust, run your car and see if the exhaust smells sweet or is slightly smoking white

This has happened to 3 DOHC KA's that i have personally dealt with. We had to add about 1 gallon of coolant every 150 miles or so and it progressively got worse. You don't typically notice it at all and it is just gone. Sure enough you look at the HG and see where it was getting slowly squirted into the cylinders under pressure.

Hopefully that is not it. Buy a Burp funnel like this sexy beast. It will be your best friend on all S Chassis because of the low radiator neck design.

[costa_rican13]

effffffff!!!!!! i hope its not the headgasket!! this is not what i wanted to hear! i bled it the first time at a loading dock incline till all the bubbles were gone. then it was for fine for a couple weeks or so. then started getting air in the system again. so its going somewhere but its not dripping as far as i can see. it rained last night hard, so i cant see anything in my driveway. it drives just fine too, no loss of power. and it only's smokes when it first starts and warmimg up since its cold. and its not in the oil because its still clean oil looks the same as it has for the last 3 years. clear brown, not mud looking

[costa_rican13]

Time to use a cooling system pressure tester to see where it's going. Chances are in your oil or out the tailpipe

how would you do this?

[OutToWinPAHC]

Go to autozone or advanced auto and loan a tool it. Pressurize the system to about 1.3 bar and wait for like 30 minutes to see if it holds. Instructions come with it and you will need to re-bleed the system afterwards

[costa_rican13]

Well I smelled the exhaust today after driving it and it smelled normal. Plain burned gas.

[OutToWinPAHC]

Dont be a sucka check that fuc8a

[pella]

To atmosphere. When the hose on my resevoir was off, i was lossing coolent. If yours is cracked, you could be losing pressure that way? Put some tape on the cracks just to seal it to see.

[OM3GA]

Try to bleed it first, you can get 100% of the air out with that burp funnel i posted. It is simple gravitational pressure. Fill the radiator, put the dummy cap on with the funnel on top of it and fill the funnel 1/2 full. Run the car with the heater on hot on a level surface(not an incline) and let the thermostat open up. You may need to add more coolant in the funnel but try and keep it 1/2 full the whole time. Rev it up a bit hold it at 3k rpms literally run it for 20-30 minutes to bleed that bad boy. I guarantee you will get all the air out. If you drive it for about 15-20 minutes after with no problem you are fine. Usually it heats up right within the first 10-15 minutes of driving.

How i knew my hg was bad is that it took 30 minutes before it got hot. Air was pumping into the cooling system via the small hairline crack in the HG. Sure enough, you take the thermostat out and fill it i had no overheating issues and would run fine. However, after driving it for a bit like that it started running crappy and starting to miss a little. Hopefully you can get all your air out and it is just an air pocket. Your heater should be hotter than hot.

Good luck!

[fightinchunk]

is it possible the cracked resevoir is letting steam/coolant vapors into the atmosphere while your driving(pressurized)? you wouldn't know when the car is off/cold because the lack of pressure would let the coolant settle down to levels where the liquid coolant physically can't spill out of the res, but once the car is on and coolant close to hot engine temp, I can see how coolant can be leaving the system in vapor form.

don't waste your time, just get a new res

[allenms240]

I don't think coolant vapors is a reasonable explanation for the loss of coolant you are experiencing. You're car would have to be boiling hot, constantly, and for a long time for it to all disappear into the air.

Check your heater core lines in the dash, I've heard the crack/rip and leak into the cabin.

[PyR0NiAk]

Check your heater core lines in the dash, I've heard the crack/rip and leak into the cabin.

I've dealt with 5 cars that have done this.. He'd smell it...

[allenms240]

You would think...

Only one way to find out.

[tumolt]

Head is leaking slowly. Valve job with a guarantee in writing. No guarantee don't fix. Buy a boneyard motor and replace it. After what I went through over 2 years of frustration and lots of money and time burned, I would go to the machine shop and talk to them first. You can do it yourself or they may recommend someone to do the work for you. But you must get in writing from both a guarantee. You can make yourself crazy trying to fix the problem yourself. I replaced the radiator, water pump, thermostate, had a shop do a valve job, etc. and still had to replace the motor. Time, money and agrevation.

[PyR0NiAk]

You can make yourself crazy trying to fix the problem yourself. I replaced the radiator, water pump, thermostate, had a shop do a valve job, etc. and still had to replace the motor. Time, money and agrevation.

Throwing parts at a problem is never the right way to fix it (unless the parts are free, of course).

[costa_rican13]

yea well i'm taking my car to my friend who is a nissan genius. no lie. he completely restored a ka-de, and every gasket is oem from nissan. i'm thinking it was the resevoir. because i pulled the hose off, and capped it so no coolant can come-out, and no air in or out. and so far it hasnt changed any but from the little air that was already in there.

[Lobo240sx]

Get a new reservoir had the same problem with my first SR, and a couple buddies who had KA's. Check the heater core, hose clamps, and back hoses on the firewall as stated. If the problem persists I would definitely take a look at a pressure test or New HG.

[Razi]

yea well i'm taking my car to my friend who is a nissan genius. no lie. he completely restored a ka-de, and every gasket is oem from nissan. i'm thinking it was the resevoir. because i pulled the hose off, and capped it so no coolant can come-out, and no air in or out. and so far it hasnt changed any but from the little air that was already in there.

You know coolant expands right?
That's why your reservoir is there.
It wouldn't have been fun if something burst.

[PyR0NiAk]

yea well i'm taking my car to my friend who is a nissan genius. no lie. he completely restored a ka-de, and every gasket is oem from nissan. i'm thinking it was the resevoir. because i pulled the hose off, and capped it so no coolant can come-out, and no air in or out. and so far it hasnt changed any but from the little air that was already in there.

You know coolant expands right?
That's why your reservoir is there.
It wouldn't have been fun if something burst.

Correct... I'm not sure about the OEMs, but most aftermarket reservoirs (even the ebay ones) have got a little pin hole in the neck of the reservoir to let excess fluid escape once it expands..

I'll take a picture of mine in a few minutes when I go out to change my fuel lines. I'll post it up when I get back inside.

[Razi]

Yep. Our OEM tanks have an opening (about 2cm wide, 0.5cm tall?) to let any excess coolant to flow out.

[costa_rican13]

well found the problem! it was the top heater core hose that had a hole in it that was so small you can even see it till the coolant reaches a certain temperature, then when it does the hose expands revealing the hole, and the coolant leaking out. which ofcourse was a bicht to find this because i looked when the car was off/cold. so thats why i never found it. ofcourse my buddy has had this problem before and instantly found it within 5 mins of being under the hood with a flashlight. but thanks anyways guys for all the help/info. this will be good for when other ppl have this problem and have ideas where to check.

[PyR0NiAk]

Glad you found it

[OM3GA]

Sweet!