edward_garcia_69

iTrader: (6)

my 1999 ss camaro looses water from the raditor for some reason after i drive it serveral miles. and when i turn on the a/c and it smells like coolant inside the cab... i dont have any leaking hose from the engine bay.. can some one help me out with some inform..
the low sensor light comes on when the coolant get low.
and it aint smoking when you start the car

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

If you have no visible leaks then usually the coolant is lost through a blown head gasket (highly doubt that's the problem....its VERY VERY rare to blow a head gasket)......or you have a leaking water pump.

But....a lot of times the only way to see coolant leaking from the water pump is to drive the car until it gets hot (normal operating temp) and then put the front tires up on ramps.....then wait about 15-20 minutes and THEN come back and start looking for the coolant dripping out. You have to let the pressure and temps RISE after the engine is shut down for that 15 minutes.....then the leak will reveal itself. They sometimes wont leak at the normal 18psi system pressure.

Another thing.....and this is what you should do first as its the cheapest item.....go buy a new Stant radiator cap. Lots of times its just a worn out spring on the cap and coolant is slowly pissing out the overflow tube into the overflow tank....
Is your overflow tank pretty full of coolant......go check it......that could be where all the coolant has been going.

.

great421

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like a pin-hole leak in the heater core to me.

Remove the glove box door and then the two trim panels which encapsulate the heater core and evaporator under the dash on the pass side and look for a leak.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

When it gets low, do you still have fluid in your overflow resovoir or is it dry?

Do you have any drips dangling off the bottom of your A/C compressor?

1 FMF

iTrader: (1)

the fact you can smell coolant inside means heater core most likely.
do you know if the coolant was ever changed? what mileage do you have on the car?
before anybody goes blaming dexcool.... if there's no record of coolant service then it's 15 years on coolant that's rated for 5 years.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Sometimes people can smell it through the air vents, so testing things with the HVAC complete off may indicate something. I'd think it odd to have a heater core leak without a puddle.

1 FMF

iTrader: (1)

true. easy way to rule out heater core is disconnect the lines for it at the water pump and put a short piece of heater hose there... bypassing the heater core to see if the smell and loss continues.

i ended up putting a new water pump on mine last year or year before, i was losing coolant over 500-1000 miles. turns out it wasn't the pump but the oem gaskets between the pump and block, they were the thin stamped steel o-ring ones. over time i would also have a very small puddle, like an ounce, on garage floor from it. you can get new water pump gaskets for $5, i got my pump from napa and it came with the thick old style fiber gaskets so i would think you can buy just those gaskets there too. but now that i think about it i remember faintly smelling coolant every now and then inside the car when driving, and for me it was that slow drip from the pump while driving that then hits the crank pulley and belt and gets sprayed.

edward_garcia_69

iTrader: (6)

thanks guys for all that inform... i checked the floor pan on the passenger side and it was dry and also the resovoir it was normal .. , the water pump only has maybe 300 miles with a new 160* therm. .. im going to change the raditor cap and try that next.. also the temperature never go pass 190.. running or on park..

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

If you have air in the radiator and a full reservoir, you definitely have a problem. I think you are on the right path by replacing the cap. If your siphon is broken, this can cause the condition.

I'm betting that your pump is bad out of the box and its pumping air in to the system. Although, the next step after the radiator cap would be to do a pressure test and make sure its not the heads.

38DD2436

I could smell antifreeze in the cabin after I installed the Mezeire pump. It was the T stat gasket leaking.

38DD2436

Dont trust your OEM guage.

38DD2436

Buy a radiator cap pressure tester. Easyst way to find a small leak