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I have a 1999 Chevrolet Lumina with a 3.1L engine and 200K miles. The car has a coolant loss issue. The coolant recovery tank goes dry after about two weeks of regular driving – averaging about 100 miles per week. The engine has a slight rough idle condition, but runs fine when driving at all speeds.
I checked for leaks in the recovery tank and the radiator hoses, but I didn’t find any leaks. I replaced the radiator at 185K miles. There are no leaks under the engine or leak stains on the driveway.
So, I’m wondering where all this coolant is going to? The exhaust tail pipe is dry and has no water rust stains.
I am in the process of flushing the cooling system. I did notice a residue in the radiator water during the radiator flush… We also had a steak of cold weather here in Central Texas. During these freezing temperatures, there was a lot more “steam” coming out of the tail pipe as compared to other cars on the road.
After researching the forum, this might be a problem with a leaking intake manifold gasket. What would be the best way to confirm this is a intake manifold gasket problem? Thanks!
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I would suggest a cooling system pressure test.
inspect the intake manifold gaskets where they meet the cylinder
head. look for coolant or residue.also inspect your oil and cap for milky oil.If you jam enough pressure to it and finish off the gasket then it is bad. Only takes a couple pounds more than normal pressure to do that. With how common those gaskets are for going bad and how easy they are to change I would just change them. There is an “updated” gasket available.
just got done with this job yesterday. it probably is the intake gasket, but before you take it apart go to the auto parts store and get a kit to test if there is any exaust in the coolant, what this will tell you is if its the head gasket or not. i have the same engine on my car and they are notorious for bad intake gaskets, but it is also nice to know if the head gasket is leaking as well. its not much more work to get down to the head when replacing the intake gasket. id get going on it while you have warning of the problem so your not on the side of the road kicking yourself for not doing it.wont be much more than $80 or so for parts. let us know how it goes.
It MIGHT be normal. A large majority of coolant is water and that will evaporate over time. That said you can pressure test the system to check for leaks.
The problem ended up being a bad intake manifold gasket. Just before I made the repair the check engine light on the car came on – a code related to the knock sensor. Things were getting worse, so I decided to do the repair on the weekend. I bought one of those heavy-duty Fel-Pro intake manifold gasket kits. Perfect replacement for those OEM cheapo plastic gaskets.
After the repair I started the car and it runs great now. And there are no check engine lights… Now to change the oil and flush/clean the cooling system. Thanks for everyone’s help!
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