Losing coolant

Tiny
DAN NAUMOVICH - COPYWRITER-JOURNALIST
  • MEMBER
  • 2013 CHEVROLET CRUZE
  • 70,000 MILES
A couple of days after getting an oil change, I noticed small drops of oil in the garage where my wife parks her car. This went on for a few days then I took it back to the oil change place to see if they messed something up. The guy told me the everything looked fine with the oil, but that the coolant reservoir was almost completely empty, despite having topped it off the week before.

The spots in the garage definitely weren’t coolant, so I figured they forget to top it off and didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t notice any new drops for a few days, until two days ago when a new one appeared. That afternoon, my wife was running errands and called to say that the heat didn’t seem to be working. I checked the coolant when she got home, and it was empty again.

I read that if coolant is leaking into the engine that the oil cap will get a white build-up on it and the oil on the dipstick will look milky. Also, white smoke might come out of the tail pipe when the car is started. I’ve noticed none of these symptoms.

Thanks for your input.
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Monday, January 20th, 2020 AT 7:31 AM

2 Replies

Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
If you are loosing coolant that quickly then it can only be going one of three places. An external leak, leaking into the engine, or leaking into the HVAC system through the heater core in the housing.

I attached some steps that will run through some basics.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/coolantantifreeze-in-the-engine-oil

If you do not find anything here then we need to pressure test the cooling system to see if we can find a leak.

https://youtu.be/W8kra65m15c

Let me know what you find with this info and we can go from there.
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Monday, January 20th, 2020 AT 10:53 AM
Tiny
TOUGHDIVER
  • MECHANIC
  • 224 POSTS
Hi,

Dan, it could also be leaking into the transmission at the transmission oil cooler located inside the radiator inspect the transmission for signs of antifreeze it will look pinkish milky color and stop driving it immediately and repair it and flush transmission. I know not everyone has a radiator pressure tester laying around but another good way of finding a coolant leak is to add antifreeze tracer dye it will show up bright neon color with tracer dye glasses on. Check the radiator, hoses, engine block, engine oil cap and motor oil, the exhaust at the first O2 sensor, heater core, transmission oil cap and fluid, and anywhere else it could leak antifreeze. I'm attaching repair guide for checking coolant leaks. Let us know if this information is helpful or if you need more info.

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

Thank you
Joe T.
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Monday, January 20th, 2020 AT 12:18 PM

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