Antifreeze Disappearing

[Kev1990]

Hello on the 10th anniversary edition I just bought antifreeze is just straight up disappearing. I replaced the radiator because it was leaking re-checked multiple times bled the cooling system multiple times no leaks or anything on the cooling system. Have checked for a few signs of a head gasket problem but don't see any real signs of it yet. I checked for mixing oil/antifreeze, white smoke out the exhaust that smells like antifreeze, I have a rough idle it sits at 1k rpms in park engine runs very smooth but vibrates a bit if I put it into gear around 750 the gear rpm's will range from 750-1k at times. Any help is greatly appreciated thank you in advanced.

[emosun]

Well if the anti freeze is 100% full , with no air bubbles , and you've confirmed it doesn't leak while under load rather then just idle on the outside of the engine anywhere. Then the only option is that it's leaking into the actual engine and burning off.

It could be leaking while you're driving and evaporating before you get a chance to see where it comes from.

[Kev1990]

See I keep trying to bleed the cooling system it has constant air bubbles in it but no other signs of a bad head gasket is that a real good possibility that it's burning off before reaching the end of the exhaust? Because my exhaust doesn't smell sweet or anything.

[johnl]

Kev,
You almost definitely have a leaking head gasket.

Coolant that disappears with no external trace of any leak means that the coolant is most likely leaking into a cylinder and being lost as steam / vapour out the exhaust. The leak may not yet be severe enough to see steam coming from the exhaust. It is possible that if the leak is external that it may not as yet be great enough to see coolant dripping onto the ground, it could be evaporating (especially if it's leaking onto something very hot, like the exhaust), but I tend to doubt it.

Bubbles in the coolant is also a strong indicator of a leaky gasket. That you have both coolant loss and bubbles is fairly definitive. To confirm keep a check on the cooling system pressure as seen at the radiator hoses. When the engine is up to temperature squeeze the hoses looking for an unusually 'hard' hose, i.e. how 'inflated' with pressure the hoses seem to become.

HG leaks can sometimes be intermittent in their early stage, so check system pressure often, especially after the engine has been at temperature for some time, and especially after it's been driven at highway speed for some time. The hoses should normally become somewhat pressurised, but not too much. You need to check the pressure while the engine is still running or at least very shortly after it's been switched off. A leaking HG often allows the system pressure to subside much more quickly than is normal, as the pressure escapes the cooling system 'backwards' through the leak (into the affected cylinder).

All cooling systems run more or less somewhat similar cooling system pressures (i.e. the pressure relief valves in the filler caps fall within a relatively limited range of blow-off psi), so you can get a rule of thumb benchmark for how stiff the hoses should become by referencing against the pressure in just about any other car (known to not have a HG issue).

Lack of oil mixing with coolant in either the crankcase and / or the cooling system does not necessarily mean that the HG is OK. It just means that any leak does not involve leakage between the water jacket and the crankcase, but there may still be a leak between a cylinder and the water jacket.

[oyajicool]

---- I keep trying to bleed the cooling system it has constant air bubbles in it ----

This indicates to me that the cylinder head gasket is bad, leaking.

[Kev1990]

True John. Thank you all for your help. I have another symptoms of a bad head gasket for the first 15-30 seconds after start up it runs a little rough every time I start it up. I have heard this being a symptom of antifreeze leaking into the cylinders/combustion chamber or something?

[H311RA151N]

x2 on head/head gasket. Especially since in your other thread you mentioned it overheated.

[Kev1990]

Woo Josh is here to save the day!! D ahahaha. LOL i'm just messing around.. Umm well it did overheat very slightly though as soon as I started to see it climb I shut it off it was still a bit away from the hot side. Ima go inspect the car a little bit further and get back to everyone with more details thank you for your help Josh, John, and everyone else that posted.

[johnl]

I have another symptoms of a bad head gasket for the first 15-30 seconds after start up it runs a little rough every time I start it up. I have heard this being a symptom of antifreeze leaking into the cylinders/combustion chamber or something?

Coolant in the cylinder wets the spark plug and shorts it out until it dries sufficiently (water in the coolant being an excellent electrical conductor). The high voltage electricity just travels through the water on the surface of the insulator until it reaches the metal body of the plug, and a spark doesn't occur, the cylinder misfires. After a short while the airflow through the cylinder dries the spark plug and it starts to work.

[H311RA151N]

Or here to screw things up. You never know with me.

Just in general, coolant loss that doesn't seem to be from an external leak, exhaust smelling like antifreeze and the engine has previously been overheated to some degree are all good indicators that there is a head/head gasket issue. Can't say for certain just my 2 cents.

[Kev1990]

Ahaha You've never screwed me up yet at-least I can say Josh but anyways I took it for another 20 mile trip today lost a very small amount of fluid. Actually heading over to scrap some radiators today :P

[XCRN]

I had a mystery leak before and it was not a head gasket. One of the small hoses from the thermostat housing to throttle body had a hole the size of a needle after it was warm it would squirt out in a small enough stream that you had to be really looking hard to find it. It drained enough fluid that caused concern but gave no symptom to indicate where the fluid is exiting the system. I just saw something strange and thought it was something like an eye floater but looked closer and it was a small geyser of coolant.

Still wouldn't rule out what everyone else is saying, this is just what I experienced.

[H311RA151N]

Coolant dye will eliminate overlooking a small leak. I've used a $5 bottle of UV dye and a bug zapper before and the leak was very evident. Pretty handy stuff.

[Kev1990]

Hmm I will have to look around for other leaks i'm just glad it isn't pouring right out basically like it was.. I will watch it for a few days thank you everyone for all of your help.

[Theos92VR4]

I had the same issue on my crx, i was always loosing coolant, but never found a leak. It wound up being the headgasket.