Setup: Stock D16y8 with basic bolt on's. (CAI, Headers, Exhaust...)

Problem: My radiator is somehow draining itself and i have no clue where it's going? Seems to be pumping back into my reseviour and overflowing from there. Have to re-fill my radiator every 2-3 weeks. My car is not overheating and there are no visible leaks in the bay or cab. Not smelling anything (Coolant is a very distinct smell). Have recently changed oil and have no signs of coolant in the oil, so i'm possibly ruling out a leaky head gasket? Any clues on what the &*^# could be going on???? ANY help would be great! Thanks.

 

Is the coolant that is in the reservoir clean or does it have a dirty tint to it? Are the walls of the reservoir clean or do they have some sort of dirty build up on them?

 

mines have a dirty tint to it too, what does that mean??? because my coolant level in my resevior goes low too for some reason.

 

I had the same issue last year, ill be cahnging my headgasket when the weather gives and i bring her back out.

 

Dirty coolant and/or a dirty reservoir would be signs of a bad head gasket or lifting the head. When the head lifts it can release exhaust into your coolant system as well as unwanted additional pressure, causing your coolant to become dirty and "shoot" out of your reservoir. If this is the case it will most likely add unwanted stress on your radiator.

The fix would be a new Head Gasket and a good flushing of the coolant system. Possibly head studs and even a check to make sure the head is not warped.

 

No, my coolant dousn't seem to look any different from normal 50/50 straight out of the bottle. I think just to be safe, i'm going to go ahead and replace my head gasket once the weather warms up like "Teamworxek9" said. Thanks for the help though! Then again, i may just buy a new engine because mine does have 195k miles on it! Still runs great though! Thanks again.

 

just pressure test your coolant system...

 

sounds like a head gasket or a really big leak somewhere..

 

x2

 

pressure test!
x3!
then get a new head gasket just in case

 

Don't go and replace a headgasket yet. You said that it fills up your resevoir bottle then overflows from there. No overheating/smoke/milky oil/oil in antifreeze? Replace your radiator cap. As the seal wears in the cap it will no longer hold pressure correctly thus allowing the antifreeze to flow past the cap into the OVERFLOW TANK.

 

No, their isn't any sort of distinctive difference in color or content in my coolant. If it were a "big leak" somewhere i would have noticed where it was coming from by now or i'd be smelling the obvious sweet smell that heated coolant has (depending on what it's leaking onto). I'll try the radiator cap trick and see what that does. Also, proving the fact that the most obvious answer is usually the right one, I never even thought of simply pressure testing my lines! Thanks for the help guys! I'll let you know if i figure it out.

 

X2 check radiator cap

 

Back up with the same problems again! Today my car went about the half mark on my heat gauge and my uppper rad hose swelled? I just picked up a new thermostat and upper hose. Maybe a new water pump???? I'm outta ideas!