Uh oh guys, i have signs of a blowing head gasket still. i fill up my radiator with water, it has red line water wetter in it, and some prestone super flush, which i forgot to drain a while back. ever since i got the car, there has been a light film of dark trashy stuff on top of the coolant, very very light, sometimes not there, but since i put in the flush, and water wetter, it increased. its oil i believe. might be left over from when my head gasket blew last time, and the flush cleaned it off the radiator. BUT, i am losing coolant at a very slow rate. like, down an inch in the radiator, every 2 tankfulls of gas. this cant be good, and to me, it sounds like a head gasket?? what else could it be before i have to yank my motor. its never seen upwards of 17 psi boost, its run PIG rich, black smoke pouring out the exhaust rich, ever since i got it back together. but it has had knock at a few points, most ive seen on a tool was, 11 degrees, but might have been higher. i DO NOT HAVE A COOLANT OVERFLOW TANK ON THE CAR. the car will get above 180 sometimes, and hits 190 to 195 with the air on in traffic, with a cracked seal on the radiator cap, at 13 psi pressure. could the coolant be leaking out the nipple by the cap on the radiator, but coming out so slow i cant really tell? it never comes out when i look, but might when im driving. i can see run spots on the radiator tank, but they are very faint. no bubbles coming out of the radiator either. and i havent gotten above 5 psi on the car since i was at the dragstrip, in february. i drive it really easy. thanks guys. This board is a big help
slow loss of engine coolant, what could it be?? besides a head gasket??
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well, i KNOW mine wasnt sleeved. i had the heads off before, and its a stock bore motor, stock pistons, and everything. the bottom end was taken apart before and has polished connecting rods, maybe new bearings and stuff, i dont know about the crank, no sleeve. what if i didnt seal the head bolts with sealant, when i reinstalled the head? could that be it? they are ARP bolts, i sealed most of em, others i just put oil on. maybe i didnt put sealant on the right ones. isnt there a fix for this.
thanks
thanks
Steve Wood
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heater core?
Ill get a coolant recovery bottle as soon as i can. im gonna make one out of aluminum sheet probably, i dont like the look of the stocker. ill try some tabs in the radiator, too.
Steve, you mentioning the heater core reminds me. it used to leak when i used it. i would come outside, get in my car, it would be humid inside. and the floor on the passengers side, was always slightly damp to the touch, and the heat from the cat, would steam it off, making it really humid inside. i dont recall it doing this lately, but it might still be leaking somewhere. Does it leak, if i dont use my heater? because i havent used it since bowling green. and its still losing coolant. lets hope that the heater core is the problem. what else can i check?
Steve, you mentioning the heater core reminds me. it used to leak when i used it. i would come outside, get in my car, it would be humid inside. and the floor on the passengers side, was always slightly damp to the touch, and the heat from the cat, would steam it off, making it really humid inside. i dont recall it doing this lately, but it might still be leaking somewhere. Does it leak, if i dont use my heater? because i havent used it since bowling green. and its still losing coolant. lets hope that the heater core is the problem. what else can i check?
Hawaiian Turbo
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Have the cooling system pressure tested. Did you replace the radiator cap yet?
O
OldGrayII
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Sounds like the cars a REAL MESS!
That Prestone super cleaner will eat at the heat bolt sealer then slowly water will creep up the head bolts. In the morning check your oil fill breather and see if it had a fresh milky build up on it? Flush out the system with water and use the GM sealing tabs as Woody said above. It should seal back up.
Steve Wood
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If the heater water cutoff valve is working correctly, most of the water will be kept out of the core and it might show up as a very minor leak....My son has a 9c1 that he drives most of the time (you can put a lot more sub in the trunk on a Caprice than you can a Regal
) It used to use about a pint of water a week or so and I could not find any sign of where it was going. Carpet was dry, no sign of leaks, no sign of water.First cool day last winter, he flipped on the heater and boom!, the core went. Has not used a drop of water since I changed the core out.
Try the GM sealing tabs....or turn the heater on and see if you find dampness again.
Old Gray--- The car IS a mess!!! But then again, arent they all?? : ) 18 year old car is gonna have its problems. they wont be perfect. but it suits me very well. ill be putting some pictures on a website, and ill post em here, for all to see. it looks a little better than it sounds.
I used OEM head gaskets from the GM dealer, they are graphite like with fire rings around the cylinder bores. sound alright? i put em on there with no sealant, tried to make sure the deck surface and stuff was perfectly clean of oil, but there might have been some traces of oil there. ill run down to the GM dealer tommorow after i go to the insurance claim place for a damage estimate. i hope these tabs work well.
ill check the heater sometime soon, see if it still dampens up the floor like it did. i dont remember it doing so in the past year though. ill be pulling out my carpet and replacing that soon, its nasty looking. ill check underneath for signs of antifreeze and rust and stuff.
Im draining my coolant TODAY, and putting in fresh water and a bit of antifreeze, hoping to get rid of all that prestone super flush, sounds like its just eating away the good stuff instead of the bad stuff. I didnt replace the radiator cap, its a 13 pound stant with some cracks in the seals, probably should replace it very soon. ill try that as well. if you have any more ideas, shoot em to me. thanks
I used OEM head gaskets from the GM dealer, they are graphite like with fire rings around the cylinder bores. sound alright? i put em on there with no sealant, tried to make sure the deck surface and stuff was perfectly clean of oil, but there might have been some traces of oil there. ill run down to the GM dealer tommorow after i go to the insurance claim place for a damage estimate. i hope these tabs work well.
ill check the heater sometime soon, see if it still dampens up the floor like it did. i dont remember it doing so in the past year though. ill be pulling out my carpet and replacing that soon, its nasty looking. ill check underneath for signs of antifreeze and rust and stuff.
Im draining my coolant TODAY, and putting in fresh water and a bit of antifreeze, hoping to get rid of all that prestone super flush, sounds like its just eating away the good stuff instead of the bad stuff. I didnt replace the radiator cap, its a 13 pound stant with some cracks in the seals, probably should replace it very soon. ill try that as well. if you have any more ideas, shoot em to me. thanks
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Without a recovery bottle you are GOING to lose coolant and NOT recover it. Why do anything else, except the tablets, when that is a known problem?
It sounds like the water level is doing exactly as expected if you don't have the overflow bottle. You fill the radiator with it cold, you run the car and the water heats up. Even though it only gets to 160-180* the water will expand quite a bit therefore flowing out the relief of the cap and out the nipple down the outside of the radiator tank and on the ground. Then as the car cools down, the water contracts and presto... You check the level and it's a few inches lower. Personally I wouldn't go hay-wire trying to fix a bunch of things that aren't broke and just get an overflow tank on there.... Problems solved I bet. 
But on a side note, yes, the heater core can still leak even when not running the heater. The heater control valve will stop the high pressure side of the collant going to the core, but the reutrn side is still connected to the return part on the intake, so water will still try to fill the line even with the control valve shut. Water just normally won't flow through the lines unless there was somewhere for it to go such as a leak.... But it sounds like the overflow tank is the real problem to me.
Derrick
But on a side note, yes, the heater core can still leak even when not running the heater. The heater control valve will stop the high pressure side of the collant going to the core, but the reutrn side is still connected to the return part on the intake, so water will still try to fill the line even with the control valve shut. Water just normally won't flow through the lines unless there was somewhere for it to go such as a leak.... But it sounds like the overflow tank is the real problem to me.
Derrick
O
OldGrayII
Guest
Uh NO!!!
A LOT on this board, including mine (Proud to say) are rather MINT!
Steve Wood
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Pride goeth before a fall!
Bet your wiring is 18 years old....your time will come!
Bet your wiring is 18 years old....your time will come!
Recovery tank seems to be the problem to me, like you all say. i checked it this afternoon, and there was liquid in the nipple, none running down the side, but there was liquid there. and i took off the cap, at 160* and it looked like it was about to come out the nipple. im gonna put on a new cap, those tabs, and a recovery tank. mine had a HUGE crack in the bottom, and was of no use, and being really nasty lookin, i just took it off. didnt know they were so cheap or i would have gotten one sooner. thanks for the tips.
Oldgray, dont drive your car anymore : ) it too will begin to have its problems. hehe. mine is worse than alot of others i will tell you that, but its better than some others ive seen. i still like it though even with some problems. thats what keeps it fun. i know many people that have cars, that dont have any problems, or anything they do to em. almost every one of em WILL get tired of the car, get bored with it, and just decide to sell it. and i know others that when they gotta do work to cars, its a real problem and they sell the car because of that too. to me, the work is the fun part, or, maybe its the results.
thanks to all, ill let you know how things go.
Oldgray, dont drive your car anymore : ) it too will begin to have its problems. hehe. mine is worse than alot of others i will tell you that, but its better than some others ive seen. i still like it though even with some problems. thats what keeps it fun. i know many people that have cars, that dont have any problems, or anything they do to em. almost every one of em WILL get tired of the car, get bored with it, and just decide to sell it. and i know others that when they gotta do work to cars, its a real problem and they sell the car because of that too. to me, the work is the fun part, or, maybe its the results.
thanks to all, ill let you know how things go.
O
OldGrayII
Guest
Originally posted by Steve Wood
Bet your wiring is 18 years old....your time will come!
87?? My math equals 15 years, but...oh well
