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-   -   vanishing coolant!! (http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/shop-talk/67702-vanishing-coolant.html)

dlampe 03-05-2006 11:58 AM
vanishing coolant!!
 
I have a friend with a 69 vette that has a coolant issue. Everytime he drives the car he needs to add coolant. There are no leaks to track and the car doesn't seem to smoke. It has to be burning it up. What should we check? What are the likely suspects?

Tongue Pirate 03-05-2006 12:31 PM
Check the oil?

jams 03-05-2006 12:55 PM
Oil will looked whipped. Look at the dipstick, breather, or drain the oil.

dlampe 03-05-2006 02:38 PM
I checked it. Oil looks good. It must be a head gasket with a slow leak.

strictlypersonl 03-05-2006 02:49 PM
I've seen this happen when there's a crack between a cylinder head water passage and the exhaust port too. It only leaked when the engine was hot and the coolant was pressurized. The stuff wasn't visible in the hot exhaust.

jarendall 03-05-2006 06:58 PM
just in case, did your friend check out the radiator cap, an old or damaged cap can cause you to loose coolent through the overflow tank, make sure the PSI rating for the cap is what the system is rated for

Tinker51 03-05-2006 07:03 PM
I had this exact problem in my early Mustang. I looked for years and never found any evidence. The oil was always good, the plugs never showed any strange deposits, the heater core and hoses were always dry as a bone. I put a catch can on the overflow to see if it was blown overboard, it wasn't. Finally, mostly due to unknown age, I took the radiator that showed no signs of leaks out to have it re-cored and overhauled. I asked the guy at the radiator shop if he would test it before opening it up. He put it the water tank and put a few PSI of air in it. I swear it looked like the Lawrence Welk show there were so many bubbles coming from everywhere. I looked at this thing all the time with the car at temperature and running and never saw any evidence but that radiator had more holes then the border between Mexico and the US.

simon clemens 03-05-2006 07:48 PM
Not sure if you have tried this yet, but here is a suggestion that has solved the same problem for me in the past…

Remove the radiator cap and with the engine running have a look into the radiator coolant, if there are bubbles in the coolant you will probably have an internal leak on the head gasket from the water passages into a cylinder. Will need to remove the head in this case.

You could try and re-torque the head, this has worked in the past to stop small leaks.

Do you have access to a cooling system pressure tester. With a pressure gauge?

Simmo

WV66AC 03-06-2006 05:10 AM
One of the family trucks (Chevy- 350) never had fluid in the tank. Eventually, head gasket issue. Given the choice of new engine or repair -- I opted for repair. Has run well for several years. Knock on wood, etc. But with the Vette, the option will be an engine rebuild or repair, unless he doesn't have the original engine anyway.

speed220mph 03-06-2006 06:06 AM
dlampe
Have your friend do a leak-down test on the engine. With the radiator cap off, pressurize each cylinder. If any bubbles are detected in the coolant, the problem will be the head gasket or a crack in the cylinder head.


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