radiator mystery

hotntexas · Post by **hotntexas** » 27 May 2005, 09:19

The radiator on my 850 is not working. I've had the switch and fan replaced as well as a new battery put in. Every other day I'm adding a cup or two of water to the reservoir. Any suggestions on what my be "draining the fluid in the radiator? There are no leaks. I had two shops confirm this by checking it out.

Maybe I need some belts changed. I find that the radiator uses up more liquid when I turn on the air conditioner.

Thanks.

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 27 May 2005, 09:26

Got any white smoke from exhaust? How is the car running overall? How many miles? Turbo or N/A? BTW, where in TX are you?

hethr68 · Post by **hethr68** » 27 May 2005, 20:58

When you say your radiator is not working, do you actually mean that your car is using coolant? Maybe the radiator is working fine - coolant runs thru many places in your car that can leak. Did the mechanics do a pressure check on the coolant system (pressurize the system with a pump and watch the gauge - pressure should hold and not drop)?

If there is no external leak then you might be using coolant through a bad head gasket. I've read that you can use an exhaust gas analyzer probe at the radiator to determine if the head gasket is leaking, but have never tried it. Most commonly a compression test is done and if any of the cylinders show abnormally low pressure, then you've found your source.

I'd first make very sure that there is no leak. Get a second opinion if necessary, or do the work yourself.

Jot · Post by **Jot** » 28 May 2005, 05:17

I presume they did a pressure test on the system. Was the engine hot or cold? With a cold engine metal contracts maybe letting the coolant escape. Remember you canot see the waterpump without removing the timingbelt cover.

hotntexas · Post by **hotntexas** » 28 May 2005, 09:50

There's no white smoke coming from the exhaust. The only difference that I've heard as I listen to the engine is that it gurgles just a tad. The car has a bit over 118,000 miles on it (1996) and is a plain jane 850.

I'm south of the Trinity.

White850Turbo wrote:Got any white smoke from exhaust? How is the car running overall? How many miles? Turbo or N/A? BTW, where in TX are you?

hotntexas · Post by **hotntexas** » 28 May 2005, 09:56

Yes, the radiator is using up the coolant. I assumed that the guys at the shop checked the pressure of the coolant system. However, I need to confirm with the shop that they did check. I wondered about the head gasket too. Hope it's not that problem. Thanks.

hethr68 wrote:When you say your radiator is not working, do you actually mean that your car is using coolant? Maybe the radiator is working fine - coolant runs thru many places in your car that can leak. Did the mechanics do a pressure check on the coolant system (pressurize the system with a pump and watch the gauge - pressure should hold and not drop)?

If there is no external leak then you might be using coolant through a bad head gasket. I've read that you can use an exhaust gas analyzer probe at the radiator to determine if the head gasket is leaking, but have never tried it. Most commonly a compression test is done and if any of the cylinders show abnormally low pressure, then you've found your source.

I'd first make very sure that there is no leak. Get a second opinion if necessary, or do the work yourself.

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 28 May 2005, 11:43

If it was head gasket, you'd have oil mixed in your overflow tank and it would probably run a lot crappier. My money would be on a leaky water pump. Though they rarely fail at such low mileage, it is something that should be looked at. You should be able to tell by taking off the t-belt cover and checking for white crusty stuff (dried coolant) around the water pump area.

hotntexas · Post by **hotntexas** » 30 May 2005, 08:33

I'll check it out. Thanks for your advice.

White850Turbo wrote:If it was head gasket, you'd have oil mixed in your overflow tank and it would probably run a lot crappier. My money would be on a leaky water pump. Though they rarely fail at such low mileage, it is something that should be looked at. You should be able to tell by taking off the t-belt cover and checking for white crusty stuff (dried coolant) around the water pump area.

hethr68 · Post by **hethr68** » 01 Jun 2005, 10:03

You can have a leaky head gasket without oil and coolant mixing. Sometimes coolant will leak between 2 cylinders and be burned up by the exhaust. Sometimes it will seep out between the head and block. It doesn't always mix with the oil - esp. if it's a small leak.

Also, if you are using a cup or two of coolant per week, an external leak should be pretty easy to find unless it's in the heater core, and then you'd have wet floor mats and maybe condensation in the windows.

If there's no external leak, my money is on the head gasket.

hotntexas · Post by **hotntexas** » 06 Jun 2005, 08:52

I had the pump replaced and, so far, the coolant level in the overflow receptacle has not gone down. So that problem is solved. However, the engine still hesitates at times so I'll probably have the head gasket looked at (when my pockets have money in them again).

hethr68 wrote:You can have a leaky head gasket without oil and coolant mixing. Sometimes coolant will leak between 2 cylinders and be burned up by the exhaust. Sometimes it will seep out between the head and block. It doesn't always mix with the oil - esp. if it's a small leak.

Also, if you are using a cup or two of coolant per week, an external leak should be pretty easy to find unless it's in the heater core, and then you'd have wet floor mats and maybe condensation in the windows.

If there's no external leak, my money is on the head gasket.