siggyfreud

iTrader: (1)

Hey all,

My coolant low indicator has been kicking on quite a bit lately. The coolant has been getting lower as well. I'll fill it up to the cold line, and about a week later it's low again.

No white smoke, no coolant in the oil that I can tell, and the car is running fine. I've changed the reservoir cap since it's the pressure holder, but that didn't seem to help.

Are there any common areas you have experienced for there to be a leak? I haven't been noticing any pooling on the ground where I park, but it's an underground lot at work, so it's usually dimly lit.

aurora40

iTrader: (1)

Next time you take a drive in it, pop the hood after you park and see if you can smell coolant. Maybe it's just pushing out somewhere like the radiator end tanks or something, when under higher pressure. At least that'll tell you if it's coming out into the engine bay vs something internal.

SoJersey05V

04 and 05 have had warranty replaced rad...

mhhamrhead

iTrader: (4)

I just had my rad replaced in my '05 - Under Factory Warranty. I've only owned the car since June and it was officially out of factory warranty when I purchased it.

My rad was leaking along the lower seam. Nothing you could see except for some coolant drippings hanging from underneath. Plus I could smell coolant.

Like yours, every few days I got the low-coolant indicator.

bamacaddy

iTrader: (1)

I had the exact same thing happening when I first bought my V. This was back in March and it wasn't quite warm enough to really get too hot. At the first of the summer when the water temp was getting up to the 190 or so mark, it would need coolant every 7-10 days. I could smell coolant but couldn't ever seem to find where it was going....I was eventually able to see along the edges of the radiator where the aluminum meets the plastic tanks.....The same place that almost EVERY GM radiator I've had began leaking. I put a $3 bottle of O'reilly's stop leak in it and have only had to top it off twice in the past 30k miles or so.....

siggyfreud

iTrader: (1)

They replaced it under warranty even though you were outside of warranty?

mhhamrhead

iTrader: (4)

Not at first. I have a current GM Major Guard 3/36 Warranty now - $100 deductible, which I purchased back in June 2010 when I bought the car. My car had only 1,380 miles when I bought it.

December 24, 2010 I had the radiator replaced, paid the $100, and went on my way.

Then last Thursday the Service Manager called and said GM picked up the bill under the Factory Warranty, so they were sending me my $100 back. He said something about having such low miles on the car(6,500 miles) might be why they decided to cover the job.

I wasn't about to argue.

Ekshail

HOLY CRAP! That's Low Mileage right there.

KamaSutra

I've had my radiator replaced twice under GMPP, the 2nd one was covered under the first ones 12 month warranty. The stock units are junk, I wish Mishimoto would come out with an equivalent cause the Ron Davis unit is stilll pricey.

-T-

iTrader: (2)

I'm not sure how exactly it happened, but one day I went into the garage and there was a pool of coolant on the floor under the car. Notorious rad problems, i had just did my cam swap and suspected air in the system... so I wasn't quite sure where it came from and how much exactly. So i topped off the tank, ran it for a little while and all was good for about 20 minutes. Got in it, drove it to work. Came outside for lunch to check on it, no leak. Drove home everything cool. Next morning.... same ****. I couldn't figure it out for about 3 days. Finally, i took the serp. belt off and moved the water pump pulley and found a spot in the rotation where it would leak like crazy out of the weep hole. Replaced the WP and everything has been fine since. Never would leak while running. Guess when i shut the car off in the garage it happened to be in just the right spot for it to leak.

kjr6306

iTrader: (1)

Yep its either your Rad or the Waterpump. The Waterpump will drive you nuts cuz you never actually see it leakiing. The Rad you can see from underneath if theres fluid....usually on the ends.

scatillac

iTrader: (12)

Although it's more common on cars that have been modded (or had the heads R&R'd), the head gaskets can develop small, seeping leaks to the outside, where no water can get into the oil and detection can be elusive due to evaporation.

There were some under car photos of a V single rear-mount turbo setup posted here some time ago that illustrate this condition very well. Drops of Dex Cool were visible on bolt heads and along the block/head seam.

To eliminate the possibility of weeping due to casting porosity, GM did recommend the use of the sealant "pills" upon reassembly, usually 3-5 dependent on coolant volume.

kevm14

Just as a data point, according to the VIS report, my car had the radiator replaced March of 08 at 31k. It passed a pressure test at 99k and doesn't lose coolant at 102k. The previous owner put lots of highway miles on this car, though, so maybe it's a time issue, more than mileage. It will be going on 3 years and 71k...

Perhaps some cars have a slight geometry problem with the way the radiator mounts.

willsol

Hmm I just had mine replaced cause of leaking at the lower seem.

My wife bumped a dear though and I managed to get insurance to cover it...

She only busted left headlight.

Still smelling coolant though and today low coolant light came on at start up.

Was parked at a forward leaning angle though...ITs also pretty damn cold.

So I will give it a few days then see whats up.

JJSimon904

iTrader: (8)

Any parts store will lend you a pressure tester. You have your engine off and pressurize the coolant system from the reservoir. It makes it a LOT easier to find leaks. I used it on mine after swapping the w/p to find that one of my hoses wasn't tight enough.