lately ive been struggling trying to find out where my coolant is going. i checked the block and notice the fitting behind the block i have running from my 95 water pipe going into my 96+gsr block has a little residue. seeing that i forgot to put teflon on the fitting i drained the system and added the teflon to fix the issue.



refilled the block and continued to burp it and allow all the bubbles to leave. checked everything to see if i had any leaks anywhere and none could be seen. later i checked the oil and spark plugs and all are fine. oil looks new, even after 3k miles, the plugs have a brownish look to them. i probably have to throw a pressure tester on the system but my local parts store doesnt have one that fits my car, well there adapters dont fit the radiator. i seriously doubt im leaking from the water pump because i dont have any signs of a leak near it nor do i have anything on the ground showing the location. does anyone have an idea as what is going on?

block specs
new head (not real sure if it has been resurfaced but i assumed it was since it had a valve job with pnp)
new block from erl 84mm
GE headgasket

 

Coolant only does one of three things. Either it stays pressurized in the system, it leaks, or it burns. Some other places to check for leaking would be the O rings on either side of the water tube, and your thermostat housing. Since you don't have access to a pressure tester, you could try a block tester to see if there are any exhaust gasses in your coolant, which would rule out burning it.

 

i was in the same boat not to long ago i just couldn't figure out where the hell the coolant was going, i soon after pulled my radiator to fix my fan and noticed the the radiator was leaking from the fins around the middle, i have a fan shroud so i couldn't see the leak and it wasn't enough to leave a drip but i found it. Ebay radiator lasted 1 year lol

 

Do you have continuous bubbles going into your overflow bottle?

 

nope, the reservoir would be empty after a day of driving. cant smell it either, the radiator is clean with the block as well. the only place it could go is inside the motor but im having a hard time finding a sign of it. i spoke to a friend of mine and he suggested that i do a leak down test to see if i can find it that way. all in all im just stuck in trying to find out where its going.

 

So you have watched a full overflow tank for bubbles at operating temperature correct? I am not saying it would happen with an empty reservoir but rather a full one. If your whole tank is being depleted that quick you need to do a CORRECT leak-down and compression test.

 

Check the weep/air bleed holes on the water pump. Sometimes when the pump goes bad those will leak constantly, even worse when the system builds pressure.

I know another member had the same problem with his build trying to find out why/where he was loosing coolant and the weep holes were the issue.

Also it could be a minute headgasket leak that only happens when the system is pressurized. It would be small enough where you wouldn't see any visual indications from the exhaust.

I don't know if you have an inspection camera or a friend who does but if you pull the plugs and put the camera down the bore you could see small amounts of coolant on top of the pistons or on the cylinder walls.

They are about 100 dollars for one at a store like home depot or Lowe's or you can buy a USB based camera to hook to a laptop for under 20 bucks on eBay, with LEDs for light.

I use mine a lot, it's a worthwhile investment as far as tools go IMO.

 

Also what I've done in the past to find small annoying leaks is to put something in the coolant that glows under a black light. Either the leak stuff for ac systems or squeeze a green/yellow highlighter refill into the radiator.

Let the system warm up and build pressure then shut it off, turn off the lights (or wait till it gets dark) then look around the motor and engine bay with a black light. If the leak is external it should be easy to spot using this method.

 

Great idea!

Any pics of where these weep/air bleed holes are located on the water pump? i couldn't find any searching.

 

See on the upper rigjt of the water pump, theres what appears to be a tube cast onto the pump? At the edge of the pump, that tube leads to the weep seal. When the water pump seals/bearing starts going bad coolant gets bled out there.

 

I guess technically that the green dye they use to color ethylene glycol should glow as well but taking the foam ink holder of a highlighter and squeezing it into the radiator wouldn't have any ill effects. It has to be nontoxic in case a kid decides to eat on it lol.

I'm willing to bet it's the pump and the weep holes..

If not do the blacklight thing and if you can't find a leak it's probably time to break out the compression and leak down testers.

 

the water pump isnt that old and yes its an oem item. i just used the oil and water pump from my last motor i threw a valve in, but ill check that area. if it was leaking from there wouldnt i see a sign from it by now? also, i notice when i remove my cap from the radiator i see this dirt like substance in the water. its not a whole lot but its there. i was think it was just plain dirt but im almost positive its not oil. it has a grind like texture on it which oil doesnt have.



wantboost:
also youre referring to this device
http://www.harborfreight.com/automot...era-67979.html

 

Sure looks like milkshake down that radiator neck to me....

 

A lot of times if you don't change your coolant regularly or don't used distilled water then over time this brown funk builds up inside the coolant passages and slowly flakes off.

 

what does your oil look like?

 

Leak down test number one test, after that get test strips from auto part store and see if you have combustion in the coolant. Also with sleeved blocks its VERY easy to get air pockets which will cause hot run conditions and will also push coolant out of the system. Been there done that thats why i invested in an Airlift for filling my cooling system. Completely air free and dont even have to bleed the cooling system when your done filling

 

Yeah I was using water from my sink since my water is filtered from a water softener.

 

From the dipstick and oil filter it looks normal. I haven't drained because I'm going to do a compression test.

 

I'm going to look into all of that this week. Also I'm looking into getting a digital camera inspector as well.

 

That's a big NO - NO... you want distilled water for a reason. Why be so cheap on something that costs so much money? It is like under $1.00 a gallon. If you don't it can eat away at your entire cooling system.

 

Also the minerals and contaminants within tap water can actually lower the boiling point of water. So despite your cooling system being pressurized to raise the boiling point the use of non-distilled water can lower the boiling point to where it boils inside the motor despite being pressurized.

This can cause air pockets, hot spots, hot running, etc.

 

i finally got around to draining my oil today. sorry for the delay, i work a swing shift at my job and im on nights this week so just bare with me. my oil looks normal to me with no signs of water contaminating the system. yes its dirty none the less, its conventional Valvoline oil until i get more miles on the block. and the level drained was about 4.2-4.5 quarts of oil. i put some oil into my small container to examine it a little more later when im not so tired, lol. the next step is to get more oil and perform a leak down test along with me relocating my oil temp sensor to the oil pan.

 

coolant pressure test would be a good start can also just start the car and let get hot, turn the car off and feel the pressure of the hoses they should stay stiff for some time, if they get limp (no pun intended) fast there is a leak in the system. Oil looks good no mud!

Is this a ls block or vtec block?

 

Oil and coolant mixing isn't the only sign of a damaged head gasket. That's why I mentioned the block test earlier. It's easy to do, and cheap. That's why I mentioned it earlier.

 

its a sleeved ERL gsr block with a built gsr head

ive been meaning to order a pressure tester just to have in my garage so ill get that with a leak down tester as well. my garage is like a mini shop, lol