Dissappearing coolant

[OneQuikMSP]

So I keep having to put coolant in my car yet its not leaking out on the ground or burning. It just slowly goes down in the overflow tank after driving it. I know it was full before I noticed it doing this so its fairly recent. Anyone know where its going and what I need to do to fix it?

 

[Outlawstar98]

Its those darn trolls!!!!!


But truffaly, ifs its going away, you have to be burning it or leaking. Theres no other places for it to go.

 

[bonospeed]

prob just need a new radiator cap or u have a small leak somewhere how often are u refilling?

 

[MSpeedFreak03]

i dont know this may be a long shot but what about your heatter corp, chect to see if any coolant is leaking from any part of the cooling system... im goingto research this!

 

[pavone]

haha..the damn trolls! seriously though.. i have the same problem, every 4 months it drops to just at the min level, then i fill to max level... i smell burning coolant after hard runs or hot days but no drips, and so far none in oil.

 

[Spooler]

I have experienced that in the past, I had a leak on the heater system.

 

[Rush]

When I experienced coolant loss, it turned out that the s-shaped hose that goes from the radiator into the block had somehow gotten a small tear. It was leaking a very small amount of coolant .. but it's one of those things where if it leaks a little bit every day, it adds up after awhile.

I replaced the hose and that took care of it.

Check all your hoses AND that all of the clamps in your cooling system are tightened securely.

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

replace your radiator cap w/ another stock one from mazda, the cheapest/easiest place to start. mine went recently except I had the oposite problem, my overflow kept filling up and spilling over. the cap fixed it.

 

[OneQuikMSP]

I don't think its a hose or anything because its not leaking a drop. Dry floor in my garage. And my roommate drove behind me and I'd get on the gas hard and off it and there was no smoke. I'm really lost. What were your symptoms when your heating system had a leak in it?

 

[Rush]

^^ The only symptom I had was that the coolant tank kept running low. Over and over. So I knew the coolant was going SOMEWHERE.

I never saw any drips on the pavement when I had my leak, either. It's entirely possible not to -- because, depending on where it's leaking, the drops could land on one of the engine bay splash guards or on another component in the engine bay. My drips were landing around the WGA and that corner of the block -- they never made it all the way to the ground.

I finally found my leak after driving my MSP for about an hour one day, pulling over and immediately looking around in my engine bay with the engine running and the cooling system doing it's thing.

 

[Speed3.5]

yeah, first yr i had mine no problem what so ever after that coolant is going down every ~4months or so to minimum.
I have the same symptoms of smelling burning but I don't see any leak which is weird.
I got to replace the radiator and change the hoses too.

 

[OneQuikMSP]

Hmm... I'll take a look again around my hoses and stuff. Its just driving me nuts. I smell it sometimes but like I said, no smoke or drips. Its weird.

 

[BOOSTR]

So I keep having to put coolant in my car yet its not leaking out on the ground or burning. It just slowly goes down in the overflow tank after driving it. I know it was full before I noticed it doing this so its fairly recent. Anyone know where its going and what I need to do to fix it?

Do yourself a favor and replace those POS oem spring clamps on both radiator hoses, turbo coolant lines and the overflow line. Use the traditional worm clamps. Those oem clamps allow for expansion and coolant loss. The smell is just another MSP characteristic. The coolant loss will end by R&R the clamps. It has for me and I still have all original cap and hoses.

 

[StealthWyvern]

I haven't read the entire thread and don’t plan on it BUT the only want to determine where the coolant is going is to pressurize the system!

 

[BOOSTR]

I haven't read the entire thread and dont plan on it BUT the only want to determine where the coolant is going is to pressurize the system!

6 years ago my dealer did that and found nothing. Also said the smell was coming from my A/C so the ran some sort of freshener through the system. Neither thing solved either problem.

R&R the clamps solved my leak. While you might not find puddles on the floor like when a water pump goes if you examine all of your hoses I bet you will find dried up coolant droplets. I know I did and changed the clamps out and do not have that issue anymore.

 

[slo03.5msp]

Check the coolant lines going to the turbo as well. Mine were leaking at the turbo.

 

[StealthWyvern]

6 years ago my dealer did that and found nothing. Also said the smell was coming from my A/C so the ran some sort of freshener through the system. Neither thing solved either problem.

R&R the clamps solved my leak. While you might not find puddles on the floor like when a water pump goes if you examine all of your hoses I bet you will find dried up coolant droplets. I know I did and changed the clamps out and do not have that issue anymore.

Sounds like your dealer took you for a ride or didnt pressurize the system high enough. Even loose clamps can be spotted doing this. I had the same issue in my f150 and spoted it while doing the test. Also found a leak on the throttle body that only leaked in the high rpms. However you do have a good point on checking the bottom of your hoses for dried up coolant marks.

 

[mazdaspeedp]

i bet your water pump is leaking

 

[StealthWyvern]

i bet your water pump is leaking

yep signs of a bad water pump is leaking at the weephole on the bottom.

 

[orangeade]

it's gonna be from the elbow that goes to the turbo i believe....going off of memory.....if you find one of those part list's online that show all the components blown apart and numbers attached it'll be #24.

if you look at the bottom of the hose...you'll see white residue along the metal there.....it's where mine is, others have had it in same location.....

dealer wasn't much help even told them to look there. but no...my water pump might be leaking according to them......no surprise there....i didn't get it fixed under warranty and will just do it myself when it warms up.