88red4cyl Posted January 11, 2010 Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 So I have been battling a slow mystery coolant leak with this car since I bought it last July... I was losing about an inch out of the overflow every month or so... This car has the 3500 v6 (lze) so I assumed it was seeping out of the head gaskets (it is wet on the one corner).. However I ran my finger through the gunk, and it smells more like oil than antifreeze... Anywho, last week when it got really cold (like sub zero) the overflow went from right at the full line when cold to a tiny dribble at the bottom of the bottle when cold, in a matter of less than 3 days... The thing is that I can not find where I could have possibly lost this much coolant in that quick of a time and not be able to see where it is leaking from... The car is not leaking anything on the ground, and I can not visually see where it is going... I checked the oil, and it looks about normal level on the dipstick (about the middle hole), and is dark brown in color (its due for a change)... On this motor you can't really see anything in the oil fill hole except for a metal plate sloping down, so that didn't help much... I guess my main question, is has anyone heard of internal coolant leaks on this motor? I know the external ones are on all the cars that have the 3500, but I haven't heard of an internal one... My only guess is maybe its leaking directly into the cylinder and burning off? The exhaust smells normal at idle, but I haven't had a chance to smell it when revving... This thing just has me baffled... Thanks in advance guys.. -Will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted January 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Finally got around to revving it today.. The exhaust smells normal both at idle and at ~3k rpms... The oil on the dipstick also still looks normal colored... However when I was shining a flahs light in the fill hole today, I did see what looked like it could be milky oil spots...I'm hoping that it is from the oil cap moisture (there was a bunch of water on the cap when I pulled it), but I don't know if plain water can make spots that look like that... Anybody know for sure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Finally got around to revving it today.. The exhaust smells normal both at idle and at ~3k rpms... The oil on the dipstick also still looks normal colored... However when I was shining a flahs light in the fill hole today, I did see what looked like it could be milky oil spots...I'm hoping that it is from the oil cap moisture (there was a bunch of water on the cap when I pulled it), but I don't know if plain water can make spots that look like that... Anybody know for sure? white milky? yes. you would have to taste it to tell... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted January 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Finally got around to revving it today.. The exhaust smells normal both at idle and at ~3k rpms... The oil on the dipstick also still looks normal colored... However when I was shining a flahs light in the fill hole today, I did see what looked like it could be milky oil spots...I'm hoping that it is from the oil cap moisture (there was a bunch of water on the cap when I pulled it), but I don't know if plain water can make spots that look like that... Anybody know for sure? white milky? yes. you would have to taste it to tell... Yeah, it was kind of whitish... It also didn't look very 'blended'... It looked kind of seperated if that makes sense... I tried to get some on my finger, but its too far down in there for my hand to reach... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted January 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 Since I'm off today, I had some time to check a couple things out... This first picture is showing the oil on the dipstick after it had been setting all night... Sorry about the bad quality, I've been having battery problems with my camera and have to snap the shot as quick as I can before it turns itself off.. This next picture is after I had driven the car moderately for about 20 minutes... I did several 3500 rpm pulls from stops, and revved the motor quite a bit right before I checked the oil.. The car also does not go over the half hash on the gauge.. It will touch the half mark, and then immediately fall right below as soon as some throttle is applied... I also tasted the oil, and I did not taste anything sweet (if that's what you meant Ken) on the dipstick... The exhaust also does not smell sweet, and I compared against my Lumina (which smells far 'sweeter' but does not have disappearing coolant)... I thought the oil looked ok on the dipstick, but I wanted to get your opinions as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fury Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 Why are you tasting the oil and all of this shit? It's not like coolant is getting into the oil... coolant doesn't even flow through the LIM. Its probably a combo of the crossover and headgaskets, just like ours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted January 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 Why are you tasting the oil and all of this shit? It's not like coolant is getting into the oil... coolant doesn't even flow through the LIM. Its probably a combo of the crossover and headgaskets, just like ours. I figured it was something like that, but I lost a half gallon of coolant in a matter of days, and the car isn't leaking onto the ground... I can't figure out where else it could be going except into the motor via the headgaskets... I don't know though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted January 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 Getting ready to drive it to Kansas City in a few minutes... Guess I'm about to find out how bad the leak really is since its just been short trips since it started leaking more.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted January 16, 2010 Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 Why are you tasting the oil and all of this shit? It's not like coolant is getting into the oil... coolant doesn't even flow through the LIM. Its probably a combo of the crossover and headgaskets, just like ours. I figured it was something like that, but I lost a half gallon of coolant in a matter of days, and the car isn't leaking onto the ground... I can't figure out where else it could be going except into the motor via the headgaskets... I don't know though... I had a similar situation with my car, which turned out to be the overflow hose from the radiator to the overflow tank. The hose was cracked and it was leaking drops directly onto the ground, ONLY when heating up, not when cooling down, so you wouldn't ever see it after you parked your car. Check all of your hoses just to make sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted January 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Hm... Made the 350+ mile trip there and back, and I barely lost any coolant... I'd say a quarter inch or less out of the overflow... I can't figure this thing out... Some days the coolant disappears like there is no tomorrow, and others I don't lose any... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 uh... taste the white gunk on the oil cap, not the dipstick.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fury Posted January 22, 2010 Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 uh... taste the white gunk on the oil cap, not the dipstick.... WHY?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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