Overheat problems

2010 BUICK ENCLAVE
110,000 MILES • 3.6L • 6 CYL • 4WD • AUTOMATIC
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LASTHOPE
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
My truck was overheating. Car said it was 280. Put hand on motor, wasnt hot.
Message on dash said "reduced engine power"
Replaced the thermostat and the coolant sensor.
Burped the system.


Checked the overflow take of the radiator and it was almost empty.
Added water to it to see if there was a leak. No leaking on ground or in oil dipstick.

Opened radiator cap.
Barley any coolant.
No milky substance found.
Added water.

Drove it about twenty miles and checked overflow again.

Overflow again is empty.
Checked oil dipstick, no water or coolant in the oil.

I am at a loss of what is wrong with my truck.
May 25, 2019 at 11:15 AM
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DANNY L
  • AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR CONTRIBUTOR
  • 5,648 POSTS
Hello, I'm Danny.

It's possible you have a leaking intake manifold gasket or gaskets. Even though you are not seeing contamination in the oil/water it sounds like coolant is being introduced into combustion process and being burned resulting in continuous loss. I had a similar situation happen like that to my vehicle, no leaks, losing coolant and this was the problem. Here is a tutorial showing what is involved:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-intake-manifold-gasket

Hope this helps and thanks for using 2CarPros.
Danny-
May 25, 2019 at 1:48 PM