Antifreeze mystery leak

TRISH78

MEMBER
2001 SATURN SL2
1.6L
2WD
AUTOMATIC
210,000 MILES

I add water/antifreeze and within driving it ten minutes the water light comes on. Temperature gauge is just now starting to go a tiny bit past half. Replaced a shifting sensor but wiring was kind of bad. It also shifts hard, if I press the gas to hard the rpm's go wacky and it bogs. Help!

Wednesday, May 29th, 2019 AT 6:50 PM

3 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
110,176 POSTS

Welcome to 2CarPros.

Have you checked to confirm the coolant isn't entering the engine/oil? You may have a bad head gasket. Also, is there white smoke coming from the exhaust?

Here is a link that explains how to test for a bad head gasket. Let me know what you find. Note that I am adding this because you described it as a mystery leak, so I assume you see nothing leaking.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/excessive-smoke-coming-from-the-exhaust-pipe

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

Take a look through those links and let me know what you find.

Joe

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Wednesday, May 29th, 2019 AT 7:53 PM

TRISH78

MEMBER
4 POSTS

Yes the oil is fine, there is white smoke coming out exhaust. Not a lot but noticeable.

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Wednesday, May 29th, 2019 AT 8:37 PM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
110,176 POSTS

Welcome back:

White smoke from the exhaust is usually caused by coolant entering the combustion chamber and burning with the fuel. Most commonly, that is caused by a bad head gasket.

Try to perform the checks listed in the link I added above. Let me know the results.

Joe

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Wednesday, May 29th, 2019 AT 8:39 PM