Coolant level problems

JACK DAVIDSON

MEMBER
2001 INFINITI I30
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
170,000 MILES

Having odd coolant level problems w/ '99 Acura 3.2TL: can't find a leak in any hoses anywhere, or out of water pump. No problems w/ heater core nor steam/water from tail pipes. No problems on short trips. But when driving 100m, have to add ~~ 0.5 gal to radiator before going again. Kinda weird.

Thursday, July 7th, 2011 AT 5:33 PM

3 Replies

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
34,172 POSTS

You can add a bottle of dye to the coolant. After the coolant loss occurs, search with a black light. The dye will show up as a bright yellow stain that you can follow to the source of the leak.

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Thursday, July 7th, 2011 AT 7:45 PM

JACK DAVIDSON

MEMBER
41 POSTS

Adding water last night, and the cap actually broke aprt in my hand; i.E. The spring/plug/cover broke away from the cap itself. The plug and spring both fell into the radiator and had to be retrieved. Could this the problem of the disappearing coolant? Could the coolat go out thru the reservior hose into the reservior and out thru the top when under high pressure? And then evaporate quickly before we got a chance to see it?

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Friday, July 8th, 2011 AT 7:29 PM

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
34,172 POSTS

Sounds like you're referring to the radiator cap which has a pressure relief valve that will maintain up to 15 pounds of pressure on the cooling system. For every pound of pressure, the boiling point of the water in the coolant is raised three degrees. Since it's common for the coolant to get well over 212 degrees, it's possible the water is boiling out of the system and leaving as steam.

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Saturday, July 9th, 2011 AT 12:25 AM