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Hey guys, so here is my problem. I have a 2000 Ford Taurus, and it has 155,000 miles on it. For the past few months I have noticed that the coolant tank has been running low (when I check it every 3 weeks), and so I add more coolant, so it’s at the appropriate line. I am doing this always when the engine is cold. Anyway, I can’t seem to figure out why it may be leaking/burning coolant. There are no visible signs of a leak on or below the engine…The oil on the dipstick looks fine. And so now what? Should I just replace the coolant cap and hope that that solves it? I don’t own a pressure kit, so I can’t pressurize the system to see if there’s a leak. Any other methods? Also, how would I check if it was a blown head gasket? I don’t have a radiator cap on my vehicle (The coolant overflow tank is pressurized). What to do?!
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They sell dye at parts stores. Put it in and run the car with the glasses that come with the dye any leaks will be more visible. i would start there.
You could try one of those block testers to check for coolant leaks to the combustion chambers, which is where I suspect you are losing your coolant. I know Eric has posted a video on it. I believe it was maybe a video on overheating?
Hi blinkskaterkc,
Check around all the coolant hoses, to and from the radiator, as well as to the heater core. There are also a bunch of small coolant line/hoses in the back of the engine (towards the firewall). Also, check the radiator fins and its sides for leaks, as well as the water pump and surround area.
A pressure test of the coolant system would be ideal to help determine where a leak might be. When you turn the blower fan “on” inside the cabin, do you get any “sweet” smell coming from the vents? This would point towards the heater core leaking inside the HVAC box.
I believe automotive part stores sell a fluorescent dye that can be added to the coolant. A black light is used to find any external leaks. If the coolant was leaking internally through the head gasket into the combustion chamber, you would expect to find that particular spark plug associated with the head gasket/coolant leak to have a “steam cleaned” appearance. A compression test and leak down test might also help indentify where an internal coolant leak could be occurring.
Compression Test: http://www.ericthecarguy.com/videos.aspx?vi=X_tbksFYhl4
Leak Down Test: http://www.ericthecarguy.com/videos.aspx?vi=WgrfT0LFMhc
Good luck and keep us posted.
If its really hot where you live at it could be as simple as the water evaporating out of the coolant/water mixture, so it looks like you have a leak when you dont. Happened to me here in the great state of Iowa
on those fords i have seen the water pump fail with no visible signs of a leak i would check your water pump the one i found did the same symptoms you describe and didnt overheat it was just always low on coolant keep us up to date on what you find
You can take a coolant pressure tester and pressurize the system. It will be much easier to find the leak. Also you can you the dye as well to make it even easier to find the leak. Fighter46 is right about the waterpump. Good luck keep us posted.
You may be able to borrow a pressure tester from your parts store but aside from a very good visual inspection it really is your best hope. This video shows how to do a block test as well as offeres some things to look for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUzOTnsW … ure=relmfu
+1 on loaning the pressure tester kit out. Most good autoparts stores have a loaner tool program.
Also in those kits, you can pressure test your coolant cap. Every 1lb of pressure the cap is rated for, it increases the boiling point by 3 degrees.
Hey Blink,
The guys are right, go to a good autoparts store and see if they have a tool rental program. Then rent a coolant system pressure tester. Also if you don’t have a radiator cap on your radiator and can only add fluid thru the reservoir tank there are adapters that can be used with the coolant pressure tester, hopefully the place you’d rent it from would have one to fit your car also. They’re fairly simple to use and will cut down your troubleshooting time. Once the system is pressurized if you find no external leaks but the pressure gauge is still dropping you may have a small head gasket leak. You can then perform some back up checks to confirm this like using the dye/block test and a cylinder compression test. Another thing that is sometimes overlooked is if your car is automatic and the transmission cooler is an integral part of the radiator it doesn’t hurt to check the transmission fluid for any traces of moisture. It’ll show up much like it would in engine oil with a milkshake appearance. Hope that helps.Hey guys,
I just wanted to update you guys on this issue. It’s been a while, but I finally got around to buying some coolant dye and a black light to go with it. The symptoms of have been the same this whole time, which is that I lose coolant and have to fill my resevoir tank every other week or so. So anyway, I added the dye, and with my blacklight I can clearly see the coolant dripping from the bottom of my engine. I’d say it’s dripping almost right under the water pump (or very near anyway). I think that may be the problem here. When I’m looking from the bottom of the car (on the passenger side), I can see the dripping coming from a large pipe, which I initially thought was an exhaust pipe. I can’t tell if the coolant it being leaked onto this pipe, or if it’s leaking from the pipe itself. I still have to determine this. I am glad, though, that it doesn’t seem to be a blown head gasket.
So now that I’ve determined there is a blatant leak, I guess my next step is to find out what part this is that it’s leaking from right?
If anyone has any further suggestions, I really appreciate them!
Thanks!
it could be very well the water pump, but if the leak is coming from the water pump, it may not be the pump itself but the o-rings assoicated with the pump. you would still have to take out the pump itself to replace those o-rings. usually there are two of them.
If it is leaking from the water pump, wouldn’t you recommend just replacing the water pump though, since my car is about 160,000 miles. I would do it myself btw
Now that you’ve tracked the problem to the water pump, it sounds to me like you’re now faced with the rebuild or replace dilemma. Personally speaking, I’ll always replace rather than rebuild. My reasoning for this is because I believe that my time is valuable, and in the time it would take me to remove the water pump, disassemble the water pump, replace the O-rings and any other worn parts, put the pump back together, then reinstall the pump, I could have the old one off, the new one on, the engine warmed up with the cooling system burped and either be on a test-drive or already back from one working on my next job. It all comes down to what you have more of, money or time. A rebuild kit will cost you a very small amount of money compared to the cost of a new (or rebuilt) part, but it will take longer to install. Also, at least from the stand point of paying someone to do the job for you, the prices work out to be about the same.
Case in point, I once had a customer with a Subaru that had a torn CV boot. The cost of a remanufactured axle, installed, was something like $320. The cost of replacing only the torn CV boot, since it made the labor charge go up, was $312, and he couldn’t have his car back until the following day as the CV boot had to be ordered from our parts supplier. They had several axles sitting in boxes ready to go, so the customer did the smart thing and replaced the entire axle.
TL,DR: Since it looks like the water pump is your leak, replace it with a new one, don’t bother with the rebuild kit. You may also want to take this time to replace the serpentine belt, since it’s going to be off anyway.
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