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What can cause a car to burn coolant only on start up?

Tiny
SATTAZAHN
  • MEMBER
  • 2006 CHEVROLET HHR
  • 104 MILES
I have a 06 HHR that seems to being burning coolant on a cold start up after a few seconds of running it stops smoking, I have had it at the dealer for a while and they keep telling me that there is nothing wrong with it.

but when I take it to a different mechanic they are telling me that im defiantly burning coolant cause it smokes and it smells like coolant, and with in a week and ahalf we have added 1 gallon of antifreeze to it. Its going somewhere but where?

the dealer put a new head and head gasket on there, but prior to them doing that it never smoked.
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Friday, November 11th, 2011 AT 9:07 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
  • 52,797 POSTS
Good morning,

My first question is why did you have the head and the head gasket replaced by the dealer? Did you have an overheating issue?

There is coolant leaking into the cylinders and is burning off when first started.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

The system needs to be pressure tested to verify there are no other leaks. If there is not, then you need to have a leak down test in the cylinders to determine which cylinder is leaking coolant. That is a test where they insert shop air into each cylinder and watch for movement in the cooling system.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/radiator-pressure-test

Please let me know the results of the test so we can continue on the proper repair needed.

Roy

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Tuesday, September 28th, 2021 AT 2:18 AM

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