Still have a coolant leak.

[emmett518]

Still losing coolant. Looking at all of the hoses coming out of the tank and radiator, and all of them are secure. No drips.

This hoe has a heated cab. I assume that this works by piping coolant into a heater core in the air handler. Is it possible that one of those two hoses are leaking? Where else should I be looking?

And if God forbid it's a head gasket problem, would I be able to see it on the dip stick, or do I have to drain out the oil completely to look for creamered coffee?

Thanks.

 

[Mike85]

Depends on how much coolant your losing. Over filling will also cause you to assume you have a leak. It comes out the overflow onto the ground.

Add some uv die and check the ac condensate drains after a bit to check the heater core for leaks.

 

[Tinkerer]

Coolant usually does not make oil look creamy in a engine. After the motor sits for a while not running , loosen the oil pan drain plug a few turns. If there is coolant in the pan it will be separated from the oil and will come out before any oil does.
It will look just like the coolant in the radiator or reservoir.
Are you overfilling the reservoir ? If you are, the system will usually expell the excess.

 

[Delmer]

If you get chocolatey gunk on the top of the dipstick, that could be coolant, or it could be condensation on an old worn out engine in cold weather. same condensation foam can happen on the underside of the valve cover. If you're worried about coolant getting in the engine oil, then send in a sample, the coolant will harm the engine before you see it in the oil, so a test is cheap insurance. SOS from the CAT dealer was as good and cheap as any.

If the heater core is leaking then it will smell sweet in the cab. Have you pressurized the cooling system to see if you can find a leak? fill an air compressor to 10 PSI and use a blow gun on the overflow hose, the radiator cap will allow pressure back in, and hold pressure, but you can overpressure it that route if you use higher air pressure. Have you checked the weep hole in the bottom of the water pump?

 

[emmett518]

I smell coolant outside but not inside the cab. Losing about 1 quart running 2 days. No drips seen on the ground.

 

[emmett518]

Have not pressure tested the system, and not sure where the water pump is yet.

 

[colson04]

I just replaced the water pump on my Ford Expedition a week ago due to mysterious coolant loss. It leaked so slow that we could never find a puddle or green colored liquid anywhere. We added UV dye and and drove around with it for a day. Brought it in and shined the black light on it. There was just the faintest dye showing under the water pump. Time will tell if that was my only leak. We never found any other traces of dye anywhere else, nor do we smell any coolant around vehicle so I suspect we found the culprit.

 

[westerner]

Most old Mechanics I know can smell hot coolant from across the Wal-Mart parking lot.
Small leaks rarely heal themselves....

 

[Tinkerer]

not sure where the water pump is yet.

It is on the front of the timing cover. Just trace the radiator hose to it. There is a 90° elbow on the pump.
It may be the culprit.

 

[emmett518]

When I start the engine, it is making noise, so it might be the pump. I think I'm going to wait until it is warm to change it out. The idea of wrenching in 10 deg weather does not sound fun.

 

[JL Sargent]

I have a tractor that has been leaking a little coolant for 27 years. Maybe just keep it topped off?

 

[Vetech63]

Are you topping the radiator to the brim? You might try losing that quart of coolant but keep running it and see if you are actually losing more than that quart. Heat expansion will push excess coolant out the overflow hose and never leave a sign of it in most cases.

 

[Tinkerer]

If the fan is mounted on the water pump there is a risk of radiator damage in a worse case pump failure.
It happens way too often.

 

[Old Doug]

The worst coolant loss i ever had was my f600. I found a truck that had a engine that had been rebuilt it had a new radiator ,hoses pump the hole works. I swapped every thing in my truck from the other. The rebuilt engine had been setting so i repainted it. I drove it to work first thing and it leaked bad fan sprayed it every were but only when it was hot going down the road. It leaked every were. The pipe plugs in the intake leaked it leaked from every hose connection the fittings for the heater hose leaked. It never got hot or had much presser in the radiator. The hot steam bath striped the paint of the engine. I would drive it to work fix a leak drive it home some times i wouldnt see a leak but smell it then the next day go to work fix another leak at lunch time. I resealed pipe fittings move hose clamps around retightened them fixing leaks that i could see. I bought a new presser tester but it didnt always work because it leaked more going down the road. I got it dryed up some every morning before i used it i would add a quart or so. On a 4 hour trip it would have to get gas and add maybe 2 quarts. After that i found the back of one head it was leaking at the gasket. I pulled the head and took it to have it checked they told me it had been surfaced with a coarse finish wish gave the coolant a place to run out. I check it every time i use it and havent added any coolant yet.

 

[emmett518]

Unreal. I’m hoping it’s not serious.

 

[emmett518]

Are you topping the radiator to the brim? You might try losing that quart of coolant but keep running it and see if you are actually losing more than that quart. Heat expansion will push excess coolant out the overflow hose and never leave a sign of it in most cases.

It’s dropping below the add mark.

 

[emmett518]

For a 30 gal system, I needed two large bottles of dye. Drove to three auto parts shops. Only 1 bottle available. Apparently, when the clerk tells you the other store has it, it’s not necessarily accurate.

 

[Tinkerer]

For a 30 gal system

30 Gallons ?
20.4 quarts would be more realistic.

 

[emmett518]

Brain fart. 30 quarts.

 

[emmett518]

So I ordered dye, and it arrived today. On the bottle, it says "not safe for use in Dexcool systems."

Called Deere, and they indicated that you need to use an OAT safe dye in their system. The normal stuff gels when mixed with their coolants.

So it looks like you can't use any old dye off the shelf.

NAPA makes a OAT safe dye, part number NTE-788103. $16 per 8 ounces. 1 ounce per 2.5 gallons of coolant. You might have to order it online, but I did find a sort-of, nearby store that had a bottle on the shelf.

Apparently, coolant is a very complicated thing, and there are a slew of different kinds. Orange coolant is not necessarily orange coolant.

https://www.motor.com/magazine-summ...-not-easy-being-green-or-yellow-or-orange-or/