Losing Coolant But Can’t Find Any Leaks?

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  • #837
    alex00
    Keymaster

    My problem is I seem to be losing coolant, at the rate of about the entire overflow in 2 weeks (I only drive on avg 15-20 miles a day). The problem is I have no leaks. I even went so far as to pull the spark plugs and they all looked good (none of them looked “steam cleaned”). I put florescent dye into the rad, and I can’t find a drop of coolant anywhere. The intake gaskets have already been done on this car, and I triple checked around it with the die.

    #845
    mstern001
    Keymaster

    First, let’s establish one thing, your engine is running at what is called now positive equilibrium. Or, the engine is built so that whenever it is running everything is designed to be blasted through it. This means that everything is set up to eventually move into the exhaust system and then out the tailpipe.

    Here’s what I think is happening. I think that your anti-freeze/coolant system has a pinhole leak. And, every time you hit the gas, the anti-freeze/coolant escapes via the pinhole leak where it is blown into the open air and off the engine so that it appears dry. Indeed, every place the anti-freeze/coolant might leak, it is being captured and sent through the engine so there is no trace of it, either.

    And, since there is no place for the anti-freeze/coolant to rest for any length of time, there is also no way for it to leave the normal telltales such as the dye tracing as it is being blown out too quickly.

    I suspect that if you look for the pinhole leak you will find it on or near the radiator core. And, what is happening is that a tiny amount is ejecting from your pressurized cooling system so that it doesn’t remain long enough for the telltales or steam to form. What I would suggest is having your cooling system pressure checked by a local independent garage. Since there is already dye for a trace you should rather quickly find the leak. I suspect it is at the front of the engine bay.

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