Man, It's been a while since I've logged on here!

Anyway, a few weeks ago while out running errands in my 03 Cavy. I make a left turn and notice my low coolant light had popped on. I watched the temp gauge and it NEVER went above 195 (actually stayed a little below). Next thing I know, the light goes off. "Okay.. random fluke.. maybe I turned hard and the coolant shifted away from the sensor." I don't think about it anymore. but about an hour later, I notice the light on again.. and this time I hadn't made any turns for a while. Soon after, it goes off and doesn't come on anymore. The next morning, I start the car and within minutes, the low coolant light comes on. "@!#$" I think to myself. Turn the car off, pop the hood and yeah.. hardly any coolant in the tank. Ride down to Advance and pick up some Dex-Cool 50/50. Pour it in, start the car and no light.

Things are fine for about a week and a half, then one day, the light comes on again. When I get home that night, I let the car cool off then check the tank, and again, hardly any coolant. "Great, I have a leak". I add more coolant and look around the engine bay with a flashlight, but can't really see much. I look again in the morning and still see nothing. No coolant sprayed out anywhere, no spots on the driveway, NOTHING. Light stays off and I periodically check the coolant tank and it seems fine. Then about a week and a half later, you guessed it, low coolant.

So my question to the org is, where the hell is my coolant going? I have not had a chance to get under the car and look around for a leak, nor have I checked the oil to see if it's milkshakey. But I will say this.. I've had NO overheating issues (the light has been on for 4 days straight now with no overheating except 3 lines above 195 while in the slowest Taco Bell drive-thru EVER), and NO loss of compression that I can tell.

I'll be able to check out the underside tomorrow morning when I do my brakes, but I' like some suggestions on where to look first.

Thanks in advance


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how does car idles good or rough? Could have an interal Head gasket failure. Have u done a compression test on each cyl? Have u taken the spark plugs out and seen what color they look like?

Car idles fine. I haven't had a compression test done yet, but plan on it this weekend. What colour would the plugs be if I do have a blown head gasket?


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A bad head gasket can leak into the crank case or the clylinders.... if its getting into the cylinders..... the plugs will be corroded beyond normal with a whitish redisue on them.... although its hard to tell from a normal plug unless its really bad...... if its leaking into the oil.... your oil will look milky....

More than likely you have a very small leak in either your radiator or a coolant line somewhere... if its a small enough crack it will be really hard to find... you could try running a GOOD sealer through the system and see if that helps.... you have to watch out for some of them though because they do more damage than good.... I cant remember the name of the one I've used in the past but its a smaller grey bottle thats shaped a lot like a thing of deodorant but with a round cap...

Yeah...sounds like head gasket or it's blowing out the overflow tube while driving, but I sort of doubt it. Check the oil and go from there...

If spark plugs are normal color, They should be tan color, If a head gasket leak, Plugs will have a whitish or greenish coloring, Thats what they looked like the last H/G job I did on my friends 97 2.2L cavalier.

Oil looks fine, no milkshake so if I do have a leak in the head gasket, it's not getting into the oil. Didn't get a chance to check the plugs today, but I looked in the Haynes manual and under causes of coolant loss, faulty pressure cap was listed. A new one was only $6 after tax at Advance, so even if that's not the problem, I'm not out a whole lot.

I do recall that the first time I added coolant, I did so hot, and when I unscrewed the cap (I know it's a no-no, but I didn't have time to wait for it to cool), it never hissed. Now, aren't I correct in assuming that as the car heats up, if the cap isn't holding pressure, wouldn't the coolant back up into the tank and go out the overflow hose?


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i could be wrong but it could be the thermostat i am having the same problem and i've checked everything. im actually trying to figure out why my radiater fan isnt coming on. i've let my car idle for 10 mins and nothing.

i've always had this problem of low coolant and it could be a number of things a bad head gasket/ water pump thermostat.........


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If a thermostat isn't opening, that wouldn't cause antifreeze to disappear.

Did you check the neck of your waterpump?

Does it smell like antifreeze inside the car?

So an update: Replaced the pressure cap a couple weeks ago, refilled the tank and light was off. Things seemed fine, then a few days ago, light comes on. Damnit.

I was thumbing through the cooling section of the Haynes manual at work today and saw where it talked about the "weep valve" on the water pump, so I'll check that after I fill the reservoir (again). Also, I was telling a friend of mine about the problem and he said that it's possible that the head gasket has a very small "failure" where it goes over the water jackets, and that each time the cylinder compresses, it could be "burping" coolant out. Was wondering how that sounded to you guys. I mean, it makes sense.. especially since I can't seem to find where the hell my coolant is going. And if that's the case, looks like I'm going to be replacing my first head gasket =(

Only good thing about that is that I could go ahead and swap out the cams while I have everything apart lol


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if you take the coolant cap off while the car is running, if exhaust gasses are getting back into the coolant system you'd see it in the coolant tank. i havent seen that myself.

easiest way to know for sure before you start tearing into the top of the motor is to do a leakdown test. basically you pressurize the coolant system via the coolant tank with a leakdown tester, let it sit for 15 minutes, if its bad the pressure will drop quickly.

after that, pull the plugs ... and look down the spark plug hole, if you see coolant in one if the cylinders there's your problem. or by that time you might see something end up on the ground. a lot of times if its a hose with a slow leak it just burns off the motor before it gets a chance to hit the ground.

good luck

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fill the coolant, go for a 30 min drive or so, don`t turn the car off, keep it running when you get home and look under the car and check for coolant leaking down

I have the same problem on my 95 sunfire. But I noticed where it was coming out finally. I'm leaking coolant out of the block on the right side. looks like where the head is bolted on. so As I am driving the coolant is leaking out, problem is that it is leaking onto the hot engine, thus evapourating and falling anywhere. Had it appraised and its alot to fix, around 1k, so i said nopes, ill get a new car if my engine dies, runs really good right now though

my problem is similar, only it's blowing it out the overflow hose on the tank.it has me completely stumped.i don't know if there is air in the system, or if there is, where it's coming from... going to gt a new rad tank cap in the am and see if it helps. I know it's not the thermostat, replaced.....it\s not because the fan isn't working.... replaced the relay for that, and it's not the head gasket, replaced that today... seems that every time i open the bleeder screw i get a nice flow of coolant, no air. Am at my wits end with it and have no answers

So I went to Advance on the way home from work today and borrowed a pressure tester. Filled the tank, put the tester on, pumped it up 15 psi and waited. about 5 minutes later, the needle had dropped one notch on the gauge. Another 5 minutes, another notch. I started looking around at all the hoses, checking the seams of the tank itself and nothing. Then I looked under the car and I see dripping. Not pouring, but a drip or two every second. It's coming from behind the water pump. Sucks that my water pump is gone, but at least it's not the head gasket. Doesn't seem too difficult to do on the Ecotec according to the Haynes.. main thing is finding the tool to lock the timing in place while the pump is off. If any of you have done the water pump on an Ecotec (2003) and have some pointers or tips to keep it from eating up an entire day, please let me know.

I'm picking the parts up tonight but won't have a chance to do it until Thursday.

TIA


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updated.... switched my coolant reservoir a couple days ago and now it works fine.... but on the plus side.... may not have needed a thermostat,now don't need to worry about it, head gasket was hard looking....now no need to worry about it either. my 800 dollar car is now fixed... good for another 2 yrs.

Never done a WP on an ecotec, but as a general rule make sure you remove all the old gasket material. Even a tiny amount stuck on the engine will cause a new leak PDQ.

So today I jacked the car up and put a pressure test on it again, just to make sure it wasn't something like the pipe going from the thermostat housing to the pump, and nope.. it's the pump. Dunno how many of you have seen what the pump looks like on the Ecotec, but there's this opening on the side of it, and I'm assuming one of the internal seals failed because that's where it's leaking. Also, after further inspection, the access panel you have to remove to lock the gear in place (so it doesn't skip time) is NOT conveniently located just behind the splash guard as the haynes manual shows it to be.. no it's a little higher up behind the metal part of the frame. When I saw that, I said "@!#$ it". I do a lot of automotive work (my car, girlfriends car, mom's car as well as several friends), but this is one of those things where I realised I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and pay someone else to do it =(

I think I would've rather tackled replacing the head gasket than try to squeeze a ratchet in there to get the panel off and THEN try to wedge that "tool" needed to lock the gear.. meh!


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