coolant?

964x4 said:

i have a quick question, my coolant reservoir bone dry. it has the little hash marks where hot/cold levels should be and mine isnt. does anyone have an explanation for this? thanks


edit: please move this to engine/transmission please. not paying attention

Click to expand...

Not sure about that maybe someone put in an after market resevoir? I'd be more concerned about the lack of coolant...where'd it go?

When the engine is cooled open the radiator cap and make sure that is full, then fill the overflow tank to the cold level.

Then put a peace of cardboard under it and let it run until warm, it will give you a place to start looking for a leak.

good ideas. i will try this

ok i checked the radiator and it is full, but it has a clearish/rust colored coolant, and it smells odd. should i add a 50/50 mix to the resevoir up to the cold mark?

The orange stuff?? I guess that means you still have the stock Dex-Cool in there. Some people say you shouldn't mix Dex-cool with other kinds of antifreeze, others say it shouldn't matter. Just to be safe, I'd stay with Dex-Cool, unless you want to completely flush and refill the system.

As for locating the leak, 84fiero's clean cardboard trick is a good way to start checking for leaks. Pressuring the system up (cold) with a pressure tester (Autozone has these in their loan-a-tool program) may accelerate the process of finding the leak. I think I would also check the oil and make sure there's no coolant in the oil, just in case the leak is internal instead of external.

They are giving you some good info I had to have my water pump replaced recently and those symptoms is what brought it to my attention.

No fluid all of a sudden and when in traffic it was running a little warmer than usual.

If it is the pump you might want to think about a new clutch fan also.

Also check between the intake manifold and the cylinder head. Those vortecs are prone to intake gasket leaks. If parked on a level surface it usually shows up dripping toward the back of the engine.

well, i filled my resevoir with 50/50 mix up to the cold hash mark, everything seems to be fine. my temp runs between 220-240. you think the water pump might be a problem? i hope not, the ol' gal only has 117,884 on her. my cousin is a gm mechanic and he also said the same thing about the crappy intake gaskets and is going to help me change them this weekend. my truck also sat from October to March so possible evaporation of coolant? thanks everbody

Mixing dex-cool and regular anti-freeze is not recommended it apparently can lead to seal compromising and other corrosion probs in block/rad. This actually happened to a few of our trucks in our fleet. Expensive mistake. So beware

ya thats what i've heard about mixing. but i used dex-cool and water

oops Not feeling well, and what i wrote was wrong.