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car losing water but no leaks

A: A repair shop can check for a leaking engine “head gasket” that would pressurize the coolant system and make the coolant boil over. If you have overheated your engine in the past because you didn’t keep the coolant full, that could increase the chances that you need a new engine head gasket. In the mean time, make sure to keep both the radiator and the coolant overflow reservoir full.

Q: Car losing water? Please Help!?
Hi! I drive a ‘98 Daewoo Nubira. My problem started 2 weeks ago when my engine light came on & when i stopped the car steam came from under the hood & water was empty. So naturally i took it to the mechanics & they told me i had a broken thermostat which i had replaced.

Everything was fine for about 2 weeks when the same thing happened again, light came on, i stopped the car & steam & no water. To check i filled the water up with coolant & just ran the motor for a few minutes. The water dropped to almost empty. Did this a few times and still it empties quite significantly even though the car is only on for a few minutes & not moving.

No obvious signs of leaks, on the ground or anywhere in the car that i can see. Also no white smoke coming from the exhaust.

Anyone have any idea what it may be? I’m planning on sending it back to the mechanic, but have a little less faith this time!

thanks x

A: you don,t have to have white smoke coming out the tail pipe to be a head gasket. it can go into the oil. you either have to have a leak or it,s going into the engine oil or out the tail pipe. i don,t like telling you this but get rid of that car if you can because the trouble is just starting.

Q: My car is losing water?
The fan works normal and I see no leaks at all when I start the car but it loses water the temp remains normal but the radiator gets emptied in a day

A: I suspect a blown head gasket. Check the oil to see if it is milky. If it is, water is getting into the crank case. Also see if the exhaust is blows white smoke, also a sign of a blown head gasket. You can confirm this by having a compression check done on the engine. all cylinders should be around 10-15 lbs of one another one cylinder much lower than the rest indicates where the gasket failed. Going through that much water should not be hard to find out where it is coming from.

Q: losing water from coolant system?
I recently noticed that the water coolant in my car is losing water and going from max to min over period of 100 miles and the interior windows are always condensated. The dealership said that there is no leak, but the spark plugs are discoloured…..they said this may be due to water leaking into it??? In my opinion if i am losing water and the windows are always steamed up, there must be a problem somewhere. Dealership said the head gasket may have blown but they would not check as it was only a guess on their behalf. This is the Daewoo/chevrolette dealership and not a dodgy independant garage. Any suggestions as to the problem. It drives fine and the heaters work fine, and i had lpg conversion last july but dont know if this is a factor?
I RECENTLY HAD THE IMOBILISER CHANGED AS IT PACKED UP. THEY REMOVED THE DASH TO REPAIR IT. MAYBE COS WATER GOT INTO IT? THERE IS NO DAMPNESS ON THE CARPETS AND NO SMELL OF ANTI FREEZE AND THE WATER LEFT IN THE COOLANT SYSTEM IS CLEAR.

A: HA! most dealers are dodgy!! get another opinion, there appears to be a leak in the interior pipes.

Q: im losing water in my car?
every tme i fill my water resrvoir it just gets suckd down and i have to fill it again,i cant see any viible leaks under car.i also have intermittent heating in the car? when heating is hot it doesnt overheat when its cold the car overheats but not to red hot?!!its not smoking and no creamy texture in oil etc.could be waterpump or thermostat i think.im hoping tstat bcos waterpump is cambelt driven and i cant afford to fix.any help would be great,,thanks!!

ps its a impreza wrx sti 1996

A: I would be looking at the heater core.

Q: why is my car leaking water? it is a dual overhead cam 16 valve motor….and its a 2003 ford focus ZTS?
Okay i am a little mechanically inclined…so its not completely obvious to me. but I blew out a radiator hose on the way home from work…i made the repair and put antifreeze back in it…i have never put straight water in my vehicle because of obvious reasons…anyways…now that i have made the repair and replaced the lost antifreeze, when i start my car it leaks straight water no discoloration or mixture of any kind only water and only when it is running. if it idles the leak is slow but when i give it throttle it sends a steady stream. the leak is towards the back of the motor but i have not been able to locate the source…any advice would help. btw

A: It could be just the water ( condensation) coming from your a/c. Hope this help!

Q: when i use my car a significant amount of radiator water is lost but i have no visible leaks, what’s wrong?
the coolant tank get’s empty

A: Water turns to steam when super heated. There might be little pin hols in the hoses. If your car is older or has harsh environment you should check the hoses. If they are stiff and flaky then you need to change them. Also make sure the radiator cap is on tight.

Q: Question about a car’s water pump?
I know the signs of how to tell if your water pump could be going. A whining noise, smoking, leaking, the car overheating, etc. I’m not sure what I have going on. My car has been acting kinda weird as of late and I’m not sure why. Due to that I’m keeping a close eye on it. When my wife gets home I lie down and watch for any leaks from the car. I’m keeping a close eye on the coolant level as well. Some mornings when I get up and check for leaks there is none. I can drive to work and let it sit the entire day without a drop. But then again some other mornings I’ll go out and notice liquid coming from weird places such as off the A-Arm bar or the exhaust. It’s right around the water pump area. Last night though I checked for leaks as soon as my wife got home and saw none. This morning though when I checked I had a small leak under the car coming off the exhaust. I’m trying to chalk this up to the frost melting off the car and simply dripping down but I don’t know how the frost could make it’s way under the hood and all the way down to the exhaust. I’m waiting to see how the spot dries. A big black spot indicates coolant and if it dries with no visible spot left simple water. I know that right next to the water pump is the A/C Compressor as well but I’m not sure if my wife ran the heater or defroster. If she ran the defroster the liquid could’ve come from the compressor’s normal condensation. Back to the water pump though. I’m not losing coolant the level stays about the same all the time. I can’t tell if the leak is making it’s way from the pump or not. I’m wondering can a pump slowly leak before it totally blows out? The water pump on my car is fairly new only a few years old. It’s a 2000 Ford Taurus. The liquid this morning was brownish and kinda slippery to the touch. Some mornings I get no liquids. That’s why I wonder of the water pump. Would it leak all the time or here and there?
I forgot another detail. About a week ago I had the car looked at. They did a pressure test and it showed no leaks. They lifted the car up and used a light to check visibally for leaks and also again found none by eye.

A: WATER PUMPS HAVE A “WEEP HOLE” Its designed to “SEEP” when going out. Watch TEMPERATURE LEVEL!

NO WATER PUMP = COOLANT STANDS STILL!!!

BEST way to see what Fluid it is/was, as I get driven MAD by NORMAL Condensation in the COLD its REALLY Puffy sometimes, is to lay CARDBOARD under it. This way you can see the Color too.

Q: 406 water leak, rad area?
hi my 1996 P reg 406 1.9 LXDT has a water leak, it is at the front of the car, by radiator so i asume it is from that, but unsure, it seems to only really do it when car is warm, i am losing water from the coolant, i am obviously avoiding driving the car unless i really have too, as dont want to risk more damage! are there other signs i should look for to make sure it not something like head gasket, i cant see no mixture in oil and car doesnt seem to be over heating so i asume it is rad but advice helps me :) Dawn
there is no cap on the top of my radiator i think it is a sealed one. i am keeping a eye on the coolant bottle and it did lose water that day it leaked but not really lost much now car not moving . i just hope it isnt the gasket as that cost me loads on a old car, the car has been brilliant in the time i have had it, its old but brill nic, i just hope it dont cost the earth to get fixed, i been told 170 for rad and fitting if it is the rad, i dont know signs myself to look, i have tried looking under car but difficult to see

A: Until you get it fixed, here’s some advice. If the radiator has a separate pressure cap on top of it, you must remove that cap when the engine’s cold (not hot!!) to make sure the radiator is full right to the top. Also put plenty of water in the radiator overflow reservoir. A repair shop would “sniff” the radiator cap opening with an emissions gas analyzer to see if you have a bad engine head gasket, but it could be a leaking hose or water pump.

Q: losing water BMW 318se 2001?
Im losing Water from cooling System in my BMW 318SE.. normal driving I need to top up daily ( 1 litre daily), but while not in use there is no leak.
I therefore conclude that the leak occurs while the car is in use. I have checked the exhaust emission, and fine everything is normal, no water or steam visible. I would appreciate any advice Thank you..

A: Check for water in the engine oil and “mayonnaise” like substance on the inside of the oil filler cap – both indicate a blown gasket.
Get the car hot with the heater on as well full heat. Check under the bonnet for water squirting from a pin hole leak in the rad or hoses – can occur and only when hot and under pressure but not with engine off.

Q: How long can you drive with a water pump leak?
got a diognostic check water pump is leaking but the coolant resevoir is not losing any coolant but the car is indeed overheating to the point the car shuts off. have no money to fix it right now just wondering how long does it usually last because ive been driving it for like 3 months and now my cars loosing power when accelerating there is little to no power when in first gear, its in 4th and 5th gear that my car has to keep up to decent speed like 30mph

A: Not very long >>> I guess you know now though…DON’T YOU?

It’s going to keep leaking and get worse. The bearings are shot and it’s telling you. It’s best to bite the bullet and get it fixed. The alternative if much more costly

Same answer as the last time you asked, about 5 minutes ago!!!

Q: My Hyundai Trajet is losing water?
After a very cold night over xmas ie. -15C the next day my car was overheating. I did have anti-freeze in the engine but I found on inspection that the thermostat needed replacing which I have done now

However after a short trip of 30 mins I find that the temperature guage is on normal but the header tank needs filling up with at least 2 litres of water. There are no signs of a leak from the engine or radiator/hoses and wonder if anyone knows what the problem is.

The car drives fine with no problems and the heater works fine too.

There is no oil in the water and as the car drives well I am presuming it isnt the head gasket.

Is it a blocked radiator?

Thanks for your help.

A: jock has nailed almost all probable causes but one worth trying here as cheap and often overlooked is the header tank cap is normally a pressure valve itself and if this fails or the seal to system isn’t working it won’t allow system to fully pressurise and steam ( water) will escape.
check for traces of anti-freeze around hoses as well as core plugs. do look under car around gearbox /clutch housing a there will be a rear core plug not visible as its behind the flywheel. it will leaves traces of anti-freeze at bottom of bell housing ( bit where gearbox mates to engine)
you may also have a pinhole in a hose so again looking for traces of anti-freeze will be a good way of locating such leaks if any.

Q: Leaking Water Need Help?
I have a 78 buick regal 3.8 liter V6 and for about 2 months I thought I had a cylinder head problem since I was losing water so I have been keeping water in the over flow tank about 2 gallons per week. anyways talk to a mobile machanic and he said to check the spark plugs, oil and see if their is white spoke out the tail pipe. Well no fluids in the spark plugs my oil needs to be changed but no water or coolent and yes I have white spoke but only while my car is in high ideal then it goes away their is some water that spitting out maybe 2 big table spoons.

Now I noticed their is water leaking down the front of the engine block I looked everywere and their is no place in that area that would have water leaking. their is a pool above the water pump but I can’t find were it’s coming from.

Any ideas

A: Im gonna guess timing cover seal. Its right where the waterpump is and when it leaks it spills over onto the waterpump. Not that hard to do just like doing the waterpump except its in front of the pump or should i say behind the pump.

Q: Losing water in my punto, Head gasket?
Guessing the head gaskets gone but before I go and buy one then strip the whole thing down tomorrow ,want a second opinion.

There seems to be steam coming from the exhaust but I’m unsure if this is due to the fact its freezing outside.

Theres no oil in the coolant,not suffering from lack of power and the system happily pressurizes.

There are no leaks anywhere else on the car. So is there anything else it could be?
Lol, forgot to mention It loses about a litre ish of water over an hour run.

A: Hi

You could have a leaking water pump. Start the engine and then look around the bottom of the timing cover or thereabouts and see if you can see coolant leaking out of it. It may make things easier to remove the top timing cover.

If you can’t see any leaking, and the oil and water aren’t mixing, then you need to have a cylinder compression test carried out before you change the head gasket.

Very best regards

Geordie

Q: hi i have a Peugeot 206, it kept losing water for 2 months.?
Hi i have a Peugeot 206, 2000
radiator is clean, changed thermostat, mechanic checked head-gasket by doing some kind of air pressure, there are no leaks at all(did a pressure test), i also changed the coolant reservoir cap. the symptoms are as follow: i drive my car for about 10 minutes, it starts heating beyond 90 degree, water pop out of the container cap (i opened the bonnet and saw water all over the motor), i continue driving the car but it doesn’t overheat (between 90-100 degree), i doubted some failure in water pump or some pressure in the cooling system, the mechanic # 5 i went to for this problem says it may be the radiator valve, i don’t believe it is the issue anyway, could any one suggest any problems may cause this???i started being obsessed with this and i can’t let it go.:-S :-(
the water signs on the motor shows that it comes from the reservoir (the tank where coolant is poured in, i’m not sure of my english)

A: Check the following again:
1. bad radiator cap
2. low level of coolant
3. coolant leaks
4. fan malfunctioning
5. clog radiator
6. water pump malfunctioning
7. air trap in your system needs to bleed
There are 2 reasons why you are losing water, there could be a leak or your car is overheating. Hope this help

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