Anyone have their coolant slowly dissappear? It seems over the last year or so my reserve bottle went empty. Is that normal evaporation taking place? Everything seems fine with the engine, oil level, etc. I do have what I think is a small head gasket seepage, but I think that's pretty common?

 

I think thats a small enough leak that if you can confirm with a oil analisys that none is getting into the oil that keeping the coolant level where it should be and putting a block sealer in should hold you for some time , go to a good repair shop and see if they get motor magazine , what you want to find is an add in there that is selling a sealer that can be a permenant fix , its the only source of that I know of and I think should work for you , thats if its one of those leaks that just seeps out side of the eng.

 

Some loss is normal.It does it on everthing I own or have owed with a recovery bottle.

 

I had a very very small leak on the side of the engine where the oil filter assembly attaches to the engine. This leak was only discovered while doing a filter change while the engine was hot. Glad I found it then, the down side the dealer hit me for 2 hrs labor because I have a bypass filter system and the mechanic was a real whinner about aftermarket parts . So I hit him back with my cracked clearance lights payback to the whinner in my opinion...
Good luck on finding your porblem but look there first...
Laurence

 

Oh forgot to mention, my oil analysis did not show contamination... head gasket seepage is not the norm & is a serious problem/issue if you got it...
Laurence

 

I think the head gasket leakeage is actually engine oil. I'm sure I read of a few others with the same kind of seepage.

If I'm leaking coolant I cant see where unless it's not oil and it's leaking where the coolant output is on top of the engine. I tightened that a few months ago though.

 

I had lost coolant also and I found that the line from the tank to the Radiator had no clamp on it at the radiator fill neck. Further checking I discovered that the coolant had beed running down the side of the radiator just below the cap. added a small clamp and took care of coolant loss.

 

My '03 has done the same thing from day one. About every 3-6 months I add a couple quarts of coolant to the recovery bottle. No indications of leaks or oil contamination, so I'm just runnin' it

 

rent a pressure tester from any auto part store and pressure test it. if you slowly loose a little bit of pressure or hear bubbling then you got yourself a leak.

 

I had the same problem and found the adaptor for the block heater was loose from the factory and leaking. It is just above the oil filter and a real pain to get at.

Dan

 

I had a very slight coolant loss when I first got mine - finally found out it was the upper radiator hose - it just seeped coolant and most of it evaporated before it got to the bottom of the radiator and to the ground. Also found some slight seepage on the lower radiator hose. Now both hoses have both the factory spring type clamps as well as some screw-tight clamps mounted right beside them. No more coolant loss.

 

I have noticed the same leak at the overflow hose coming out of the rad. under the cap. I haven't put a clamp on it yet but plan on doing so as soon as I get a chance to buy one... The "head gasket" leak I think you are referring to is actually the valve cover. It will leak on some trucks but should just be oil.

 

Yeah that's probably what I meant, it's just above the level where the metal coolant tube comes up out of the engine. I think it's leaking from the gasket there but it's hard to tell.