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Anonymous Posted on Sep 28, 2012

Losing a lot of coolant. I don't see a leak. I started to drain the system and it smells burnt to s**t. What might my problem and possible solutions be?

The radiator cap looks cracked. I will have it and the system pressure tested to start. Then, what?

1 Answer

ernesto cuadra

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  • Cars & Trucks Master 12,223 Answers
  • Posted on Sep 28, 2012
ernesto cuadra
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See this causes and fix it. God bless you
Water pump -- A bad shaft seal will allow coolant to dribble out of the vent hole just under the water pump pulley shaft. If the water pump is a two-piece unit with a backing plate, the gasket between the housing and back cover may be leaking. The gasket or o-ring that seals the pump to the engine front cover on cover-mounted water pumps can also leak coolant. Look for stains, discoloration or liquid coolant on the outside of the water pump or engine.
Radiator -- Radiators can develop leaks around upper or loser hose connections as a result of vibration. The seams where the core is mated to the end tanks is another place where leaks frequently develop, especially on aluminum radiators with plastic end tanks. On copper/brass radiators, leaks typically occur where the cooling tubes in the core are connected or soldered to the core headers. The core itself is also vulnerable to stone damage. Internal corrosion caused by old coolant that has never been changed can also eat through the metal in the radiator, causing it to leak.
Most cooling systems today are designed to operate at 8 to 14 psi. If the radiator can't hold pressure, your engine will overheat and lose coolant.
Hoses -- Cracks, pinholes or splits in a radiator hose or heater hose will leak coolant. A hose leak will usually send a stream of hot coolant spraying out of the hose. A corroded hose connection or a loose or damaged hose clamp may also allow coolant to leak from the end of a hose. Sometimes the leak may only occur once the hose gets hot and the pinhole or crack opens up.

  • Joseph Hoffmann Jun 25, 2014

    Hi, another way that you might lose coolant is head gasket cracks. He could be losing it by burning it or by mixing in the oil. If he's burning it you would see it as white exhaust. Very expensive to fix. Good luck.

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5 Related Answers

Anonymous

  • 1 Answer
  • Posted on Oct 20, 2008

SOURCE: 2002 freelander coolant leak

My coolant leaked out and on top there is a large hard plastic container, I had to replace it, that stopped my coolant leak.

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Anonymous

  • 426 Answers
  • Posted on Oct 30, 2008

SOURCE: Coolant filling up overflow bottle

You may need to ask AAA to put a radiator pressure tester on the resevoir bottle and pump it up to operating pressure(Pressure cap rating) and see if it over pressurises while it is running at operating temp,rev engine up and down and watch what the testers pressure readings do,it should move up and down in sync with the water pump.If the pressure keeps building i would have to believe that combustion chamber gases are over pressurising your cooling system.Also test the pressure cap is functioning within factory specs.

Anonymous

  • 1118 Answers
  • Posted on Mar 05, 2009

SOURCE: blown head gasket. what is the cause

Running hot will cause head gasget to fail. Or if head is not torqued properly, or a faulty head gasget. Pressure in cooling system means, blown head gasget or cracked head.

Anonymous

  • 2 Answers
  • Posted on Jul 22, 2009

SOURCE: Land Rover Discovery 1996 3.9 V8i Cooling Problems

sounds to me like you have a blocked heater matrix or coolant radiator

Anonymous

  • 4102 Answers
  • Posted on Sep 21, 2010

SOURCE: My Granddaughter has a 2003 Honda Civic which has

Hi, its not good news im afraid by you describing that with the coolant cap off and revving the car causes the pressure to build up and push the water back out it sounds to me like the head gasket is on its way out, what you need to do is take it to a garage and dont have a compression test done you need to have a gasses test done, you can buy these yourself if you want to and what it does is this.

its a plastic tube with blue liquid inside it then you take the coolant cap off and place this in its place you then run the engine and rev it up then you squeeze the rubber at the end of the tube and it then sucks the air out of the coolant and through this liquid then if it detects gasses from the engine in the coolant then this turns the liquid green and this is then telling you that the head gasket needs changing.

please dont let it keep over heating as this will cause the cylinder head to warp and you would then need to get it skimmed to make sure its not warped, get the gasses test done as a compression test dont give you a true reading as the engine is not running when they do a compression test.

let me know how you get on or if you need further assistance ok

plz rate this solution as i have a whole page of unrated posts, thanks

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