bigsal39

i have went through a gallon of coolant over the past 3 days and have no idea where it is going.

i changed the oil and nothing

checked the tranny fluid and nothing

WHERE IS IT GOING !?!?!

any ideas its sucking it in as its running than disappearing a little tiny bit is bubbling back into the res, but that is it.

kissthis66

Check the thermostat housing. My old chevelle would leak right there but not enough to show up on the ground. Just a guess. Oh also check the heater core, windows fog up?

bigsal39

nope windows are completly fine and il go check the housing, but 2 full res's in 3 days?

Fsher21

check to see if it is blowing back while you drive and covering such a large area it evaporates before it drips. Is your exhaust white at all? Does the 97' have a heater control valve, Can't remember if it was eliminated in 97 or 98. If it has one, you would see the spray on the top of your starter.

storm101

Sorry to drop the scare bomb but thats the #1 symptom of a cracked head (lots of unexplained coolant loss), especially with that much fluid loss and no puddles.

Do you smell coolant burning off when you get out? If you don't have the "sweet" smell I'd eliminate it spraying and burning off. If you do have it, look around very closely and try to find the leak.

And all of that is assuming your system has been full this whole time and you've been keeping an eye on it.

Another thing, what year is it? The 97 or 01?

bigsal39

theres nothing on the exhaust i checked it and today i filled it drove 2 miles than 2 back and it was almost empty shut it off and maby a shot glass amound bubbled back into it

pmichel

Possibly a blown head gasket from water channel to cylinder. Are you seeing white smoke? Pull plugs one at a time and look for a REALLY clean one.

bigsal39

only white smoke when its wet outside so thats normal

bigsal39

its the 01 and theres no smell at all from anything just the crack in my exhaust is the only smell.

storm101

Do a quick search on the 0331 cracked head symptoms :/

Im not sure how to test for a cracked head either, so hopefully someone can point you in the right direction for more of a test to either diagnose it or rule it out.

kissthis66

If you changed the oil and it's normal your ok and its not a cracked head. If the head was cracked you would get a nasty smelly oil and it would idle and run like ****.

storm101

Not nessicarily, do a search like previously stated, if it's early enough and diagnosed and there isn't any oil issues the engine could be saved.

As common as it is with the 0331 horror stories it's the first thing id look at.

Please do a little reading before trying to undermine others "paths of interest"
Even if it turned out not to be, it's still worth the time to check into.

bigsal39

it makes a water running girgling noise in the engine when i shut it off and the oil is completely fine

Synyster

OT and not to hijack but real quick is the overflow tank supposed to be filled up when the car is on or off? Is it ok to just pour 50/50 in it?

djb383

The overflow tank has 2 marks.....upper/lower. The 50/50 coolant level should not be below the lower mark when motor is cold.