car is loosing coolant.....

[Gibson486]

My 01 Nissan will not stop crying....My engine had been over heating over and over again. I keep having to retop my coolant fluid every 2 weeks. I cannot see a leak anywhere....so I gues sthat means that it is leaking into the engine somewhere. I looked up this problem on line and things are pointing towards a bad gasket....this sounds very expensive I am gonna get another car in a few months....so is there any light at the end of this tunnel that points to not replacing the gasket?

 

[KLin]

Does your car spew out white smoke from the tailpipe?

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: KLin
Does your car spew out white smoke from the tailpipe?

hmmmm...I never checked that when the car's thermostat starts to rise.....I usually just shut the car off as soon as I find a palce I can pull over.

 

[KLin]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: KLin
Does your car spew out white smoke from the tailpipe?

hmmmm...I never checked that when the car's thermostat starts to rise.....I usually just shut the car off as soon as I find a palce I can pull over.

If you don't want to blow the engine in your car, I'd suggest getting it checked out by a mechanic.

 

[chusteczka]

Does the engine oil leave an unusual foam or residue on the dipstick?
This would indicate coolant in the engine oil.

There are leakstop ("stop leak" ?) products that can be added to the coolant but I am not certain if this will harm the engine or not.

EDIT:
The thermostat may need to be replaced.

 

[randomint]

i don't know what it could be. could be a head gasket problem or not. you'll have to get it checked out to find out for sure but if it IS a head gasket problem, prepare to buy a new car

 

[boomerang]

You diagnosis sounds correct. You have a leaking Head Gasket. KLin was asking about white smoke because that's a sign you're burning coolant leaked into the combustion chamber(s).

Pull the dipstick and see if it is rusty or has oily foam on it. The coolant is either being burned or leaked into the crankase.

Either way, it can't be ignored. Prepare to fix it or be broke down in a major way someday soon.

 

[CallMeJoe]

Originally posted by: KLin
Does your car spew out white smoke from the tailpipe?

Check for "white smoke" (steam) in the exhaust while your car is running, not necessarily when it starts to overheat. This indicates coolant getting into the combustion chambers through a head gasket leak. Another tip is to put a clean piece of cardboard under your car when you park it, and check for any coolant spots on it later.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: randomint
i don't know what it could be. could be a head gasket problem or not. you'll have to get it checked out to find out for sure but if it IS a head gasket problem, prepare to buy a new car

yeah, i asked a mechanic how much replacing a gasket would cost he said over $500....

Seeing as how I hate this car and that I am gonna buy a new car in about 2 months ( 1 of those months teh car will just be sitting in a driveway b/c i will be traveling), I really do not want to put that type of money down. You think that just by topping off the fluid i will be able to get way with not replacing the gasket?

 

[boomerang]

There was a suggestion for stop leak of some kind. Go to the auto parts store and ask them what they recommend. That and keep it topped off is about all you can do.

 

[thetxstang]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: randomint
i don't know what it could be. could be a head gasket problem or not. you'll have to get it checked out to find out for sure but if it IS a head gasket problem, prepare to buy a new car

yeah, i asked a mechanic how much replacing a gasket would cost he said over $500....

Seeing as how I hate this car and that I am gonna buy a new car in about 2 months ( 1 of those months teh car will just be sitting in a driveway b/c i will be traveling), I really do not want to put that type of money down. You think that just by topping off the fluid i will be able to get way with not replacing the gasket?

In all seriousness, depending on how bad the condition is, by continuing to drive the vehicle you could very well hydraulic the engine.

 

[randomint]

try these forums. you might be able to get advice from someone with a similar problem.

 

[BUTCH1]

1st thing is check the oil and see if it's milky white, if it is drive it directly to the shop and get it
changed. No sense destroying bearings and rings and totally ruining the motor. If the oil looks
OK then top it off with coolant (not plain tap water) and trade it in NOW...

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: BUTCH1
1st thing is check the oil and see if it's milky white, if it is drive it directly to the shop and get it
changed. No sense destroying bearings and rings and totally ruining the motor. If the oil looks
OK then top it off with coolant (not plain tap water) and trade it in NOW...

trading it in to the dealer was pretty much what I had in mind.

 

[ViviTheMage]

well, first thing is stop driving it...could be a bad gasket and that coolant is getting into the engine....

 

[OrganizedChaos]

check and see if its in your oil or transmission fluid. also pull the plugs, if one or more looks like its been steam cleaned your in trouble.

 

[funboy6942]

Stick a bottle of alumaseal (sp) in the radiator, it is powder aluminum, an be had at almost any auto parts store. It will seal up some head gasket leaks, but first you need to figure out why it is overheating on you. I have to assume it does it when your not moving or slowly moving. IF that is true it may be your cooling fans are not kicking on, can turn them on when it start to get close to overheating by turning on your ac, if the temp drops then your fans are not coming on, just keep the ac on all the time and the fans will continue to run till you sell the car, and the alumaseal will hopefully seal your leak.

Due pull your dipstick out though, if the oil looks milky, or like mayo the water and oil is mixing and thats where it is going, pretty much a lost cause nothing more you can do. If oil looks fine proceed with what I wrote up above.

 

[Paperdoc]

I agree with the advice to check your dipstick for signs of milky or foamy oil. That would indicate significant coolant leakage into the oil through a cracked head gasket. Let me clarify the "white smoke" comments. One reliable indicator of a cracked head gasket is this. Wait until the car has NOT been running for several hours at least. (During this time a bit of coolant can leak into one or two cylinders.) Start the engine (helps a lot to have someone else do this, so you can...) and watch the tail pipe IMMEDIATELY. If a big puff of while smoke comes out in the first 5 to 15 seconds, then disappears, you probably have a leaking head gasket.

Nobody mentioned another possible culprit. Most water pumps have a "weep hole" so that, if the seal on the pump shaft starts leaking, the coolant can drip out the hole. It is relatively common on older cars for this shaft seal to start leaking. Replacing the water pump solves that problem. A mechanic can tell you if that is your problem, unless you happen to be good enough to figure it out yourself. Now, on some cars that problem can be "lived with" for a while - you just have to keep topping up the coolant system. On mine, the water pump is inside the timing belt enclosure, and excessive coolant leakage there can contaminate and damage the belt, causing it to fail. So it's not a good idea for me to let such a problem go on for very long.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

I wouldn't automatically assume it's a head gasket or more serious problem unless there are obvious signs (milky oil, white smoke, etc...)

Could be temp sensor, rusted radiator, bad thermostat, leaking water pump

 

[jupiter57]

I believe that the first thing I would do would be to replace the coolant cap, if equipped.
A coolant cap that won't hold pressure will allow coolant to escape, which in turn leads to overheating.

Note: Couple of years ago, I bought a very expensive vehicle, the guy I bought it from told me that his mechanic had diagnosed a bad head gasket, and wanted over $2000 to fix it. (Northstar engine)
I bought the car for a song, noticed that coolant was spewing out of the coolant cap at 220 degrees. Went to Advance Auto, >$7 later had a new coolant cap to put on it and been driving it ever since!

So yeah, I would check that first, along with all the hoses & clamps before I did anything major to it.
Remember, few mechanics are going to replace a $.35 hose clamp without trying to slam you for a full head gasket job first!

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: Paperdoc
I agree with the advice to check your dipstick for signs of milky or foamy oil. That would indicate significant coolant leakage into the oil through a cracked head gasket. Let me clarify the "white smoke" comments. One reliable indicator of a cracked head gasket is this. Wait until the car has NOT been running for several hours at least. (During this time a bit of coolant can leak into one or two cylinders.) Start the engine (helps a lot to have someone else do this, so you can...) and watch the tail pipe IMMEDIATELY. If a big puff of while smoke comes out in the first 5 to 15 seconds, then disappears, you probably have a leaking head gasket.

Nobody mentioned another possible culprit. Most water pumps have a "weep hole" so that, if the seal on the pump shaft starts leaking, the coolant can drip out the hole. It is relatively common on older cars for this shaft seal to start leaking. Replacing the water pump solves that problem. A mechanic can tell you if that is your problem, unless you happen to be good enough to figure it out yourself. Now, on some cars that problem can be "lived with" for a while - you just have to keep topping up the coolant system. On mine, the water pump is inside the timing belt enclosure, and excessive coolant leakage there can contaminate and damage the belt, causing it to fail. So it's not a good idea for me to let such a problem go on for very long.

Unfortunately, the puff of white smoke and clears, and how you have as a test, is what you do for leaking valve seals, and will prove that he has oil getting past the seal. The white, blue, puff and clears is the oil that gets by. Usually with a head gasket leaking, and you burning it, you will get a white cloud of smoke out the tail pipe, all the time, and it will take blocks for it to dissipates. If it is cold out side a car with a blown head gasket will leave a smoke trail for miles.

Another dead give away of a head gasket leak, and real easy check, is to pull your plugs. As long as your running green coolant in your system, and your indeed burning it, the 2 plugs (one next to the other because usually a blown head gasket will pop between 2 adjacent cylinders) should have a green hue to them.

 

[Unheard]

There are a few things this could be.

1) Head Gasket (check for water in your oil, it forms a gunky caramel colored coating on your dipstick, also look for white smoke from the exhaust)
2) Thermostat / Thermostat Gasket (locate your thermostat, check for water, although with it being a slow leak (2 weeks between refills) the water could be gone before you notice it)
3) Water Pump / Water Pump Gasket (locate your water pump, hint it will have a belt attached to it, look for water around where it meets the block, although you could have the same problem noted in w/ the Thermostat.

 

[Paperdoc]

A puff of smoke that clears could well be, as funboy42 says, oil leaking past a valve seal. In that cae I would expect you have slow loss of oil level. You did not mention whether that is happening, too.

But it could still be coolant leaking from a cracked head gasket. A small leak will produce brief white smoke and apparent slow loss of coolant. I expect that a leak big enough to give you almost constant white smoke would also give you faster coolant level loss. Come to think of it, how much coolant do you have to replace after 2 weeks?