mcs328

My wife's car is always running low or empty on coolant. I just had the cooling system flushed. About 2 weeks later the coolant light came on and sure enough no coolant. There are no leaks so it seems to be evaporating or something. How much do you think it'll cost to replace the whole cooling system, radiator and all? Few grand? Could be the hose?

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mojo

maybe it's blowing out the tailpipe. headgasket or warped head possibly. check if white smoke comes out the tailpipe, particularly when you start it up. also see if there seems to be a lot of moisture around the tailpipe when driving. and check to see if there's coolant in the oil, or oil in the coolant. pull the dipstick and see if there's bubbles in it or green patches.

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DarkFury

Did you actually have it tested for leaks... or did you come to that conclusion just because there wasn't a puddle of anti-freeze in the driveway where she parks?

I'd get it checked out by a professional... if it were me.

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mechmike0034

Chevy Cavalier - what year, and what engine size?

A 50/50 mix of coolant/water won't evaporate for a long time - not like plain water will.

Pull the oil cap and look at the underside, and down in the hole it came out of - if it looks like someone dumped a chocolate milk shake inside then you have coolant getting into the engine oil. Check the dipstick the same way.

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Daedalus

Are you saying it has only been a problem since the flush? Or before that as well?

uncledaddy

Was it loosing coolant before or after the service. If after then make sure that the service was done properly and air purged correctly as the Cavalier, I believe, has a closed cooling system and sometimes purging air can be difficult. If before than the others have said it all. Good Luck.

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mcs328

1995 Chevy Cavalier. About 86K on it. It was a problem before the flush and I figured a good flush would do it good. I'll look at the dipstick thing. No white smoke from the tailpipe. I just dumped coolant and water mixture in it last night.

I'll take it in to the shop and see what they find. I just might just buy a new or used car if the repair doesn't seem worth it.

Daedalus

How much coolant are you adding, and over how many trips and how many miles? There are only 3 places coolant can go:

1. Combustion chamber
This is easily checked with a chemical test that detects exhaust gas in the cooling system. As fast as it sounds like it's disappearing, I would think you would see HUGE plumes of white smoke out the tailpipe.

2. Oil
Found visually per MechMike's post.

3. External leak
Confirmed visually and/or with a pressure check.

If it's not 1 or 2, fill up the car when it's cool, and then start the engine and let it idle parked for 20 minutes, maybe rev it up a few times. Let it get nice and warm so the cooling system pressurizes, then look for drips. 1 and 2 require a headgasket replacement to fix ($$$$). An external leak won't cost as much and will depend on what's leaking.

mcs328

I put in at least half a container of coolant and almost an equal amount of water. It was up to the Full line from what I can see. My wife drove to work which is about 10 miles away and she called me to say the light is back on again. I'll check it out when I get home again.

Daedalus

Whoa, that's very alarming. Nail this down ASAP. If it's in the oil, it's killing your engine. Also, the car's at severe risk of an overheat, which hurts a lot of things under the hood, both short term and long term. Last thing, filling the reservoir may not be good enough if there are air pockets elsewhere in the system. The water pump can't move air.

I would either have it towed home or at the very least I would fill it up before driving it back.

DarkFury

That's gotta be a leak.... Wow!

Yeah... get that checked out ASAP!

mojo

well, it's going somewhere. your closed system is not so closed.

when you fill it, do you fill it while it's running? i don't mean hot. while it's cool, fill it and let it run a bit and top it off.

did you check the dipstick for traces of coolant? you should be able to see traces of what was described before under the oil cap as well.

another possibility is that it's blowing out of the recovery bottle if it gets too hot from something such as a thermostat. while the car is running, check the temperature in the top hose and compare it to the bottom. they should both get hot with the engine. (watch for the fan). if the top hose stays cool, your thermostat may be stuck closed.

you may also be able to feel coolant going to the engine in circulation. if the pressure in the top hose gets to be really stiff, the radiator may be clogged, as well.

uncledaddy

Also make sure the passenger carpeting isn't wet, thought with that much coolant you'd smell or see the coolant.

It is possible to consume coolant through a blown head gasket without exhaust steam or oil/water mix. your symptoms seem to be just that. A small leak between a cylinder and a water passage. Probably won't consume just idling, but heat up engine under load and it will slowly burn off coolant, even within a few miles. You may notice pressure building in cooling system after running for short period, even with cold engine/hoses.

mcs328

I didn't check it last night but my wife made a U-turn back home this morning and I took her to work. She said it was smoking from the hood but didn't know if it was white thick-ish smoke or the evaporation since it was quite cold this morning.

Either way, she scheduled an appointment this Saturday. This isn't a car we bought new. We got it used from a lady who drove it to the metro and back for like 5 miles a day. We got it at around 60K and from what we can tell she never had it serviced except for oil changes thinking oil changes are the only kind of service a car gets. We had it serviced when we bought it to pass inspection and again at 75K.

mcs328

Blown gasket, warped piston and/or cracked cylinder head = $2500-$3000. We bought a used 2005 Honda Accord EX-L the same day and traded in the cavalier for whatever, we didn't care. We were looking for new cars since a few days before just in case. $18,400 includes everything and it had 18,700 miles on it.

Thanks for all the help guys.

DarkFury

Sounds like your "inspector" really didn't do you a "service".

That lemon had a spigot for lemonade (and you thought it was coolant... )