Engine Coolant loss

Val
Val Member
I had the strangest thing happen with my 39. I use hyper cool with my prestone antifreeze and my temp gage usually rides at the 1/4 mark. It began riding center so I figured time to add hyper cool again this year. So when I opened the radiator cap I noticed I couldn't see any coolant so I put my finger in the radiator. Nothing! I added the hyper cool and almost a full gallon of prestone. Now, my car doesn't smoke and I noticed no visible leak and never had any antifreeze on the garage floor. My tail pipe isn't wet after driving. So Not sure what happened. Any ideas? Anyone???

Comments

  • Lance
    Lance Member
    Any cracks around the water jackets? Check your oil. If it looks like milk chocolate, there may be a problem.
  • Val
    Val Member
    edited April 2019
    No oil in the radiator and no antifreeze in the crankcase. Oil looks good Lance. And no visible leak anywhere
  • lostmind
    lostmind Expert Adviser
    Check for stains at water pump weep hole. Probably evaporates after leaking.
  • Hate to say it but you might have a head gasket crack or worse a crack in the block and the water is going thru the exhaust
  • Val
    Val Member
    Ill check at the water pump, ken1962, I would think if it was a head gasket and water was getting in the exhaust I would have a wet tail pipe. I do not. It does not smoke and runs good. I'm getting ready to drive her the 250 miles to Dr Doug's place for the spring crank up. So I was just going over everything when I noticed the coolant was low. As I said I have no visible leak and nothing on the garage floor.  
  • Val
    Val Member
    Ok no stains around the weep hole of the water pump. I had her out running this morning for the first time in a couple of days due the rain we have had here. She runs good and does not smoke. I checked for leakage around the head ,at the water pump, at the radiator and water jacket cover. Nothing. Tail pipe is dry. Only thing I can think of is maybe when I serviced it last fall I didn't put enough in it and when running the heater this winter some went into the heater core and that caused the issue. As I checked the fluid level this morning before I started her up and it was normal.    
  • Good to hear Val. A drop would make sense when reactivating the heater flow. Have a lovely drive and best of luck cheers ken
  • Val - I am very interested in seeing your car. I plan to be at Dougs. I hope to see you there.
  • Val
    Val Member
    Thanks Ken and Mike I look forward to seeing your car again too. I'll be there God willing. I'll drive out Friday.  
  • Kaji
    Kaji Member
    Maybe you have some cracks in your coolant system. This is a very serious problem. I think that you should go to a mechanic to solve this problem. I also had a crack because I used a low-quality coolant from a no-name brand. From that time I use www.cararac.com to see what is the perfect brand to use for my beloved car. It's a very useful platform where you can find a lot of new interesting facts about your car. I use only the best coolant on market, from that time I never had any problem with the coolant system.

  • It could be that you have a head gasket with a small leak, not enough to be detected by smoke or steam from the tail pipe, just evaporates before you see it. My 50 did that for a few months, until I finally pulled the head. Pull your spark plugs and see if there are rust stains on them. That could be an indication of head gasket. 
  • Val
    Val Member
    It was mysterious, I never had an issue after that time?
  • O'Reileys Auto Parts rents cooling system testers. 
  • Val
    Val Member
    Thanks supercub thats good to know