Engine coolant going somewhere!
 

The coolant keeps disappearing... we constantly have to add more coolant. It does not drip under the car, it does not go into the oil. It could possibly be going out of the tailpipe, or maybe its just condensation... I can't tell. The radiator blew up though. My dad did something so the radiator cap valve stays open and excess water of steam goes into that canister for coolant.

The engine works fine though, seems like all cylinders work. No yellow check engine light either... and I also checked the codes, and it's the same old knock sensor and EVAP valve thing that we gotta clean. But it's only those 3 codes and that's it.

I really hope its not a blown head gasket. I read online that it costs like $1500 to replace! :eek::eek:

Could it be a crack in the cylinder head, and the coolant goes into the exhaust?

Or what else could it be?

In either case, can we keep driving like this and just keep adding water?

Most likely water pump. Sometimes they only leak after the car starts to cool down.

There isn't ever any water under the car though.

Oh yeah, with driving the water disappear. My dad says in a 60 mile drive, a half a gallon of water could disappear.

We are gonna replace the radiator, prolly tomorrow, but like i said, never any water under the car. No steam coming out the tailpipe either. But my dad thinks it comes out the tailpipe... sprinkles when you rev the engine.

What is the above about :confused::confused::confused: . If it was going out the exhaust, you would have seen obvious white smoke which is hard to disregard. Check to see if you have a hose at the back of your intake manifold. Does your engine smoke at all when you are fully warm and at a traffic light or stop sign?

It does not smoke at all... ever.

Sorry, I'm a total noob, but can a cracked head leak fluid into the exhaust?

Also, what hose at the back of the intake manifold are you talking about?

You've got a problem that dad sort of masked. The cooling system is a closed system. There should be no reason to have excess steam in it.
The cap acts like a check valve, allowing hot expanded coolant into the reserve tank and pulling it back out into the radiator as it cools.

Put the correct cap on the system. If the cooling system still has unwanted "steam" or pressure, then most likely you have a blown head gasket.

Do the simple checks first. There is a small black hose on the back of the intake log facing the firewall. Check to see if the hose is leaking or somehow came loose. It is about the size of a fuel hose. I was losing antifreeze once and it was leaking from there. I had removed my intake manifold before though and didn't slide the clamp back on. If your car overheats these radiators seem to be prone to blowing that seal on the top mating the plastic to the radiator core. That makes it harder to track a leak when it is letting out vapors also.

is you heater core leaking? Feel you passenger side front floor board....is it wet?

i had this problem too, how much are you losing at a time, a lot or a little?

My 96 did the same thing, no signs anywhere of a leak except for the lack of coolant, turned out to be a slow/small water pump leak.

An update on the problem:

I went for a 20 minute drive today with my dad, and when we got home I told him to rev the engine as I looked at the tailpipe. When he reved it into like 4K rpm range, a bunch of water sprayed out... not steam, just liquid water. (My dad hasn't put antifreeze in a long time because the coolant just keeps leaking out... so the coolant is just water.)

In a 60 mile drive, a half a gallon of water leaks out. The water never leaks when the car is standing still... the level remains the same if the car sits for days... the water disappears only when we are driving.

Questions:

1.) Could this be a cracked head? If it is, can we still keep drying like this and just keep adding water?

2.) Or is this issue due to blown head gasket? What can we do if it is? Can we keep driving like this, or will the gasket get worse with time?

Depending on what region you are in, water coming out of the exhaust in a cold climate is normal which is condensation. If you are in a cold climate, use antifreeze so that you can see where it is going and it would not dissolve. Cannot predict anything else until we get a solid confirmation that it is coming out the exhaust or somewhere else.

We live in Los Angeles, it is 76 degrees right now, and we just tested it 30 minutes ago.

first off do you smell coolant under the hood after the engine is warmed up? If you do, you might have a leaking hose. I had this issue and it turned out to be a half inch diameter hose on the left side of the engine.

This is what a blown head gasket looks like.


Some water is suppose to come out of the exhaust, its a by product of combustion.

As Trini Boom and asand1 wrote, sprinkles from the exhaust when you rev the engine are normal. Water vapor is one byproduct of combustion, it condenses in colder parts of the exhaust and pools in the muffler. Then when exhaust gas flow surges, some of that water in the muffler blows out the tailpipe. You've probably seen this while following other vehicles in the winter.

Ok, thanks guys! That makes me feel better lol... more hopeful that it's not a gasket or a cracked head.

We never get any yellow check engine lights, I'd assume a blown gasket would cause it to turn on?

Also check your heater hoses, especially where they have a connector mounted on the firewall. You have to jack up the car and crawl under, and look up for signs of leaking.

no, not always, a sure sign is usually coolant in the oil, less exhaust smoke (white, blue is oil), a second would be the coolant reservoir would be "overfilling" the leak in the head would seep out combustion cylinder pressure thru your cooling system resulting in old faithful. not as dramatic tho.

Put uv dye in your coolant, run engine then spot for leaks with the glasses and light.