Coolant Issue

Coolant Issue - 04/12/11 12:17 AM

Don't shoot me I'm only the messenger! LOL My kid's car 97 Chivy Lumina V6 has a strange issue with coolant loss. It runs up in temp sometimes almost to overheating, but doesn't have the symptoms of overheating. It does use coolant and I can find no leaks, no white smoke out of the exhaust and no water in oil.

I checked the radiator today for water movement and it appears to be flowing. Electric fans are kicking in. I am stumped. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Posted By: buildanother

Re: Coolant Issue - 04/12/11 12:27 AM

Maybe the intake gaskets that love to fail on those,(assuming it's a 60 degree 3.1 or 3.4), is seaping slightly into oil, and is burning out on it's own. or it's leaking externally and evaporating on the outside. It's going somewhere, and it's new enough that the block most likely is not cracked through the cylinders like some late eighties-early nineties 2.8's and 3.1's. Not likely.

Posted By: RapidRobert

Re: Coolant Issue - 04/12/11 12:39 AM

Need to borrow one of those Stant radiator pump kits & see if the cap holds ~15 psi b 4 it releases and pull into the driveway w it hot/shut it off/take off the cap and pump the rad up to 15 psi & let it sit & check back and on a small leak may need to let it sit up overnight but w your amt of loss it prob wont take that long for the gauge to drop (hope it's external so you can spot it) EDIT other options a rad shop can draw the air in the rad neck up into some blue fluid w their kit & it'll turn yellow if combustion gasses are present and if you have an emissions testing stn closeby they can set the probe in the same airspace in the rad neck & know in seconds if there are combustion gasses present

Posted By: Mopar_Country

Re: Coolant Issue - 04/12/11 01:35 AM

Maybe I'll just buy one of the Stant kits, there are some on ebag that aren't to pricey.

Posted By: RapidRobert

Re: Coolant Issue - 04/12/11 01:37 AM

You dont use it too often but on occaision it's good. yeah if you can find one at a good price

Posted By: Mopar_Country

Re: Coolant Issue - 04/12/11 01:39 AM

Well, I have 5 vehicles that I maintain, not including my kids cars. They are in the 75 dollar range.

Posted By: wvmarv

Re: Coolant Issue - 04/12/11 01:42 AM

Quote:

Don't shoot me I'm only the messenger! LOL My kid's car 97 Chivy Lumina V6 has a strange issue with coolant loss. It runs up in temp sometimes almost to overheating, but doesn't have the symptoms of overheating. It does use coolant and I can find no leaks, no white smoke out of the exhaust and no water in oil.

I checked the radiator today for water movement and it appears to be flowing. Electric fans are kicking in. I am stumped. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Those 3.1 and 3.4 v6's are notorious for leaking head gaskets. Check the right head, the one closest to the firewall on front corner by the exhaust manifold. It is very hard to see and you may need a mirror.They leak there and it is evaporated by the hot exhaust manifold until it gets fairly bad. Also, those are hard to get full unless you bleed them, if I remember right there is a bleeder screw at the back of the intake plenum. Been a long time since I have worked on one of those, and my memory is not as good as it used to be. Also isn't the water pump on those behind the timing belt cover? Ithink it is and it may be leaking and not getting onto the ground until you are driving it.

Posted By: Mopar_Country

Re: Coolant Issue - 04/12/11 01:49 AM

I will check that out tomorrow when she gets home from work.

Posted By: wvmarv

Re: Coolant Issue - 04/12/11 01:50 AM

Quote:

Need to borrow one of those Stant radiator pump kits & see if the cap holds ~15 psi b 4 it releases and pull into the driveway w it hot/shut it off/take off the cap and pump the rad up to 15 psi & let it sit & check back and on a small leak may need to let it sit up overnight but w your amt of loss it prob wont take that long for the gauge to drop (hope it's external so you can spot it) EDIT other options a rad shop can draw the air in the rad neck up into some blue fluid w their kit & it'll turn yellow if combustion gasses are present and if you have an emissions testing stn closeby they can set the probe in the same airspace in the rad neck & know in seconds if there are combustion gasses present

NEVER EVER REMOVE A RADIATOR CAP ON HOT ENGINE UNLESS YOU WANT TO GET BADLY BURNED. COOLANT WILL BLOW OUT AROUND THE CAP AND POSSIBLY IN YOUR FACE. Anyone who knows anything about cooling systems will tell you Not to do that.

Posted By: RapidRobert

Re: Coolant Issue - 04/12/11 03:37 AM

Quote:

NEVER EVER REMOVE A RADIATOR CAP ON HOT ENGINE UNLESS YOU WANT TO GET BADLY BURNED. COOLANT WILL BLOW OUT AROUND THE CAP AND POSSIBLY IN YOUR FACE. Anyone who knows anything about cooling systems will tell you Not to do that.

If this was a high school shop class I would have included that caveat

Posted By: 344

Re: Coolant Issue - 04/14/11 03:48 AM

Type in on your favorite search-engine: "GM DEXTROL".