# Coolant loss



## muccman (Aug 24, 2003)

Alright, I seem to be losing coolant.

I can tell when it's getting low beause the car doesnt get up to temperature as fast as it normally does. Today I had to fill up the rad (didnt take too much to fill ). But on the weekend of July 1st I believe, I had went on a highway trip and filled up the coolant in the tank as well. I hadn't checked it again up until today where the overflow tank was pretty well empty. I didnt have enough mixed so I'll fill it up when I get home.


Every now and then I look underneath the car and there's a few drops, nothing major. It's on and off... I got the mechanic to look at that before and he said it might just be the bottom hose.


Anyways, where else would the coolant be leaking from? I opened the rad cap and there was a little bit of a white-ish substance around the cap. Could this be an issue with the headgasket?


Oil level stays consistant..... no discoloration.


Any ideas?

(E16i btw)


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## Popkorn (Nov 16, 2003)

muccman said:


> Alright, I seem to be losing coolant.
> 
> Anyways, where else would the coolant be leaking from? I opened the rad cap and there was a little bit of a white-ish substance around the cap. Could this be an issue with the headgasket?
> 
> ...


Yep. Have you checked under your oil cap for the dreaded milk? I had an old Datsun that started to leak from the water pump. Lasted about 50 miles befor she blew.


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## nismob12 (Feb 4, 2005)

*coolent tank*

After you shut off the car after it has gotten up to temp the pressure difference will (spit out) some coolant Hence the purpose for the recovery tank
if you keep losing coolant check all the hoses including the hoses that go into the firewall for the heater. if you have no leaks and keep losing coolent you can try using more antifreeze. Antifreeze doesn't evaerate water dose. if you still have a problem then i would look into A head gasket or B cracked head A = coolant in the oil or vise verse B= steam like vapor out the tail pipe some is normal but after the car has run for a few min the steam should go away . if you live some where hot (AZ) this time of year you shouldn't see any vapor at all. 



muccman said:


> Alright, I seem to be losing coolant.
> I can tell when it's getting low beause the car doesnt get up to temperature as fast as it normally does. Today I had to fill up the rad (didnt take too much to fill ). But on the weekend of July 1st I believe, I had went on a highway trip and filled up the coolant in the tank as well. I hadn't checked it again up until today where the overflow tank was pretty well empty. I didnt have enough mixed so I'll fill it up when I get home.
> 
> 
> ...


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## sentrastud (May 3, 2002)

muccman said:


> I can tell when it's getting low beause the car doesnt get up to temperature as fast as it normally does.


Typically when your losing coolant, your car will heat up significantly quicker. The lower coolant volume doesnt have as high of an overall heat capacity as a result becomes heat saturated much quicker. 

If your car is taking longer to heat up it could be:

a) the thermostat is stuck open. The engines have a wax type thermostat that restricts coolant flow until the engine has warmed up to normal operating temperature. When its warmed up the thermostat opens and allows the coolant to cycle through the whole system at full capacity. 
If its stuck open, your car will take far longer to reach temperature as the engine is heating the whole system at once, rather than a smaller portion of your total coolant. 

b) You have fresher coolant. Fresher coolant exchanges heat more effectively than old/ decayed coolant. If you changed you coolant recently you may notice your car doesnt warm up as hot anymore. 

If your still leaking, check the bottom edge of your rad. My Sentra recently started dripping from corrosion along the bottom edge. I left it for a few weeks and then my rad exploded and was pouring coolant...
Take a peek and see if coolant is coming form there?

-Nick


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## muccman (Aug 24, 2003)

im going to go find a rad pressure tester.. my dad thinks it might be the rad.. but we'll have to see...


dear god I hope its not the headgasket.. i really cant afford it right now


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## mille-16i (Jun 16, 2004)

accually what muccman is seeing is that with the lack of coolant in the system the temp gauge is not always submerged so it takes longer to notice the temp and the heater is not hot my sentra dose that as well if I neglect to check the coolant for any length of time. presure test it and it will probably be more than one thing like a few small leaks that is what i think mine is I am just to lazy to look into it I will not have my E16i too much longer.


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## sentrastud (May 3, 2002)

mille-16i said:


> accually what muccman is seeing is that with the lack of coolant in the system the temp gauge is not always submerged so it takes longer to notice the temp and the heater is not hot my sentra dose that as well if I neglect to check the coolant for any length of time. presure test it and it will probably be more than one thing like a few small leaks that is what i think mine is I am just to lazy to look into it I will not have my E16i too much longer.



oooh, gotcha. Sorry I didnt think of that.

-Nick


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