antifreeze leak
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
help ok everyone heres my problem. i am going to do a head gasket change this week because i am losing antifreeze. no leaks... i checked about a dozen different times. now i am not losing a lot at a time just a little. when i say allitl i mean around 16 oz at a time. what i mean is when i start my car in the morning it runs rough for about 10 min, after it gets warm it runs fine , no hit you in the face smell of antifreze in the exauhst just a faint smell. no antifreze in the oil. no film or smell of antifreze on the insides of the valve covers. the car dosent overheat at all the car usualy stays at the middle line before this problem now it goes between the halfway and 3/4 point on the guage. now if it is a cracked head wouldnt i be losing more than the amount i am losing ? wouldnt the car just overheat, and wouldnt the exauhst reak of antifreze? thanks for any help
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 384
Likes: 0
Well, it may be premature to condemn anything other than a faulty gasket. Are you certain you don't have a leak somewhere (eg, the steam pipes) that could be dripping onto the exhaust? Any puddles on the ground where you park? White smoke when you start up the motor? Milky oil when you drain the motor?
Without a compression and/or leak-down test, it's difficult to diagnose much. If you're pulling the heads anyway, then there's really no need to make blind assumptions. You should probably have the heads milled flat again -- the machine shop should be able to thoroughly inspect the heads if you have any doubts or concerns.
Without a compression and/or leak-down test, it's difficult to diagnose much. If you're pulling the heads anyway, then there's really no need to make blind assumptions. You should probably have the heads milled flat again -- the machine shop should be able to thoroughly inspect the heads if you have any doubts or concerns.
Why would you go through the touble of taking off the heads if you don't even know if they are the problem? I'd check it out more before I took on that task. Maybe your heater core is junk and is leaking into your passanger compartment causing the smell.
