Head Gasket Issue?

[Celica Man]

Hi guys,

So here’s my concern:

I think I may have a head gasket issue but not sure…

There is no oil in the coolant, there is no coolant in the oil, the car does not overheat – never has. I did one of those chemical sniff tests to see if the color would change and no change.

You would think I do NOT have a head gasket issue right? Well, here’s the mystery: I can smell coolant in the engine bay after running although no drips or leaks can be found. Coolant reservoir is losing coolant but it’s very, very slow – probably have to add a cup of coolant once a month or every 1000 miles.

One more thing: I noticed the other night while the engine was running that the coolant reservoir was bubbling a little…not bubbling over rather just bubbling a tiny bit. I turned the engine off, then waited till it cooled a little. I then started the engine and the coolant in my reservoir tank burped up.

Does that mean there’s combustion gas in my coolant?? Or, is that just from the water pump or maybe air in the cooling system?

Totally stumped here.

Topic

[Celica Man]

The radiator doesn’t have a cap on my car. The overflow tank is where the pressurized cap is located. It’s the LZ9 3.9 engine for the G6 GTP.

[Andrew]

My Freelander has the same set up. I suppose that as long as the engine isn’t running and has cooled a little that tube may not have any coolant in it, and so you may not have spotted the leak as only air would be coming out. Only guessing, though.

[Celica Man]

I’m thinking it’s possible I may have had air in my system…but not sure. I had a flush done and the coolant tank was topped off after burping the system. I drove home last night, parked the car, and this morning noticed the coolant in the tank was low – figured just more air or whatever.

I then topped off the level and drove 130 miles to my parent’s place this morning. Before I left a couple hours ago (now home) I had to top off just a little bit more. My car’s cooling off right now so I’ll see if it’s still below the full line in awhile. I haven’t noticed any leaks of any kind though.

[Celica Man]

Well, seems like I may have found the culprit. My thermostat housing was wet around the seams today. I’ll be fixing that next weekend. Unfortunately I found that my front main seal was damp with oil too but that’s not so bad I guess – not dripping onto the pavement and I watch my oil level like a hawk so I have some time with that before it needs repair.

Thanks to all you guys for your replies!

[John Hugon]

Thanks for letting us know what you came up with…owners of the 3.5 and 3.9’s always complained of coolant smell after they got a few miles on them. We got ½ hr.check out and diagnose time to identify the problem….as you know there are many coolant issues with that engine and many didn’t get repaired under warranty….so owners of those fine cars got very frustrated.

Front crankshaft seals always leak on the 3.9. Sometimes they quit after use when a vehicle has been setting for awhile….but an easy fix, if it doesn’t stop leaking .

[Celica Man]

I heard about all the cooling issues after I bought the car but really enjoyed it so I didn’t want to bring it back. I had all the head gasket tests possible performed and passed them all. Just had the rear section of the head against the firewall inspected as well with a camera snake and totally dry. That made me happy. So far so good on this one.

Good to know about the crankshaft seal…it sat for 3 months before I bought it.

[Author]

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