lost all coolant somehow.
11-18-2012, 02:10 PM
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lost all coolant somehow. Well basically the other day i pulled into my work parking lot, got back and noticed all my coolant in a giant puddle on the parking lot cement...awesome right? I opened the hood, no hoses loose/broke, thermostat still in tact.
I get it home, drain out the little coolant thats left, fill it and do a flush until water is coming through clear. refill, burp it, etc. Now it wont leak any coolant and i dont know why, the only real symptom i can see/hear is the water pump pulley sounds kind of squeaky/bad or has bad bearings. coolant was basically dripping onto the accessory drive because it was on the bottom pulley/harmonic balancer, its not getting burned. and i dont have any symptoms of a bad head gasket, where else can all my coolant just fall out of randomly?
I get it home, drain out the little coolant thats left, fill it and do a flush until water is coming through clear. refill, burp it, etc. Now it wont leak any coolant and i dont know why, the only real symptom i can see/hear is the water pump pulley sounds kind of squeaky/bad or has bad bearings. coolant was basically dripping onto the accessory drive because it was on the bottom pulley/harmonic balancer, its not getting burned. and i dont have any symptoms of a bad head gasket, where else can all my coolant just fall out of randomly?
11-18-2012, 07:43 PM
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had the same thing happen to me while letting my car idle at work while talking to someone. about 2 miles after leaving work it pegged the temp gauge. noticed the cap was a bit loose so thats the only thing i could notice that was wrong. put about 500 miles on it since and no issues. it lost about 75% of the coolant through the loose cap.
11-19-2012, 09:24 AM
#3
ALL your coolant? Are we talking two gallons of fluid?
If not and the amount is much less than that, you could just have a bad water pump. (If you are getting squeaking from it, that would also point to a bad pump.) There is a weep hole on the pump that will leak coolant as the seals go bad.
If not and the amount is much less than that, you could just have a bad water pump. (If you are getting squeaking from it, that would also point to a bad pump.) There is a weep hole on the pump that will leak coolant as the seals go bad.
11-19-2012, 11:56 AM
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no not 2 gallons but enough to make the next start give me a low coolant light, and while i was flushing it/warming it up to operating temp and turning on the heater to full blast it wouldnt leak...maybe i didnt wait long enough?
ALSO if i decide to go ahead and replace the water pump, what thermostat will work with what water pump? I wanted to just reuse the stock one but if i have to buy a new thermostat i wont be too upset.
ALSO if i decide to go ahead and replace the water pump, what thermostat will work with what water pump? I wanted to just reuse the stock one but if i have to buy a new thermostat i wont be too upset.
11-19-2012, 01:35 PM
#5
You should probably watch it for a while. I had a problem with my water pump where it was pumping air in to the system. (In addition to leaking out the weep hole.) https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...ant-level.html
If you see the level go down in the radiator over time, you might have the same problem I had.
If you have the same issue, your water pump may have put air in the system without you noticing over time. When it got low enough, your low coolant light came on and you noticed the puddle. (This is how I came across my problem.) An interesting segway here is that the low coolant warning is useful! (Many people advocate disabling the sensor when it goes bad - but it saved my bacon in this case.)
GM changed the design of the water pump, so... depending on the year of your car, you may not be able to reuse the thermostat & thermostat housing. This thread has some more information and the link I posted in #14 has GM's cross-referance to the pump housings and thermostats. (When I replaced my pump, I had to go with a new matching thermostat & housing.) https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...a-fitting.html
If you see the level go down in the radiator over time, you might have the same problem I had.
If you have the same issue, your water pump may have put air in the system without you noticing over time. When it got low enough, your low coolant light came on and you noticed the puddle. (This is how I came across my problem.) An interesting segway here is that the low coolant warning is useful! (Many people advocate disabling the sensor when it goes bad - but it saved my bacon in this case.)
GM changed the design of the water pump, so... depending on the year of your car, you may not be able to reuse the thermostat & thermostat housing. This thread has some more information and the link I posted in #14 has GM's cross-referance to the pump housings and thermostats. (When I replaced my pump, I had to go with a new matching thermostat & housing.) https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...a-fitting.html
