where has all my coolant gone???

I got a '02 caravan (crappy-van, scaravan ect...) that has overheated last night while driving less than 10 km's. I realized it had been over a month since i filled the coolant and i lost it all, luckily i made it home and to work this morning. filled it with 7.5 L (2 gal) of premix antifreeze and now its running fine. now I'm wondering, where the hell is it going? It isn't going on the ground for one thing. Not the oil pan because my oil is fine. So i asked a few mechanics i seen while at work and the said most likely the head gasket. Now my question, could it be the head gasket, could it be somewheres else? If you can help me, please do. BTW, an 18 year old driving a caravan? I got it when mom bought a NICE '07 loaded Ford Fusion SEL AWD and dad has a truck... so its mine to use whenever i like and it was free

Do you have a coolant reservoir???

could be a headgasket, or as i found out a cracked block

Ubergeek wrote:

Do you have a coolant reservoir???

Yes, i filled it several times until it settled and its been running fine now, but for how long?

Jareddent666 wrote:

Ubergeek wrote:

Do you have a coolant reservoir???

Yes, i filled it several times until it settled and its been running fine now, but for how long?

you should check your coolant regularly, but not have to fill it regularly. If you're loosing coolant, it would be a bad head gasket or a cracked block etc...
leave it for now, but keep an eye on your temp. gauge. If it heats up, stop and check it.
Fill it back up, and repeat. If it keep happening bring it to a mechanic.

could be minor problems...check your rad hoses too

coady-admin wrote:

could be a headgasket, or as i found out a cracked block

yes, only because you had NO coolant reservoir and you leaked rad fluid all over the engine.
your over-heatedness probably could have been avoided if you had your reservoir.
let's not forget...driving the snot out of a 300hp car tends to get a little hot under there and a small intercooler just ain't gonna cut it....

Yeah, i've been checking often, i guess i just forgot to for like a month and a half... hopefully i wont run into problems this week, im heading up to halifax..wouldnt want to break down far from PUBNICO...mah god damn....lol, JK

Ubergeek wrote:

could be minor problems...check your rad hoses too

coady-admin wrote:

could be a headgasket, or as i found out a cracked block

yes, only because you had NO coolant reservoir and you leaked rad fluid all over the engine.
your over-heatedness probably could have been avoided if you had your reservoir.
let's not forget...driving the snot out of a 300hp car tends to get a little hot under there and a small intercooler just ain't gonna cut it....

There is nothing wrong with the intercooler, the car never had a single cooling issue before. As far as the resivoir who knows how long it was gone, i didnt personally think i ever had one untill i looked at old pictures. All i know for sure is that it was gone along time before the problems started. People keep trying to tell me my car blew up because the intercooler is to small and im as sick of hearing that as you are about hearing that you need to lower the back of your car. I had the car on a dyno for over 2 hours and it didnt heat up, we did back to back to back runs and no heat. When a headgasket goes the car heats up, my headgasket broke causing it to heat up, sure my resivoir wasnt there for some period of time BUT i had coolant in the car because i kept checking it because i noticed the heat. I didnt start to lose my coolant untill the block cracked. I had ignored the heat gauge because it would jump to the top then driop to the bottom, so i asked a mechanic and he told me i had a bad scensor that it shouldnt jump that much, thats why i ignored it. nothing eles was wrong, no coolant gone. A few days later is when it let go and i lost it all. Not the intercoolers problem, it was a broken heat gasket problem, caused over heating, caused block to crack, caused lost of coolant, caused boom. Then end

lol...kk


ps...my rear has been lowered haha

coady you lost your coolant cause it all went out the hose to the reservoir which wasnt there. which made that lil motor go beyond what it should

jamie.3030 wrote:

coady you lost your coolant cause it all went out the hose to the reservoir which wasnt there

The resivoir was gone long before it started and the coolant never went down at all. when the car gets hot the coolant goes into the resivoir, but it wasnt getting hot untill the gasket broke.

there was no coolant to cool it down thats why it heated up

jamie.3030 wrote:

there was no coolant to cool it down thats why it heated up

What point is it you guys arnt getting, THERE WAS COOLANT IN THE CAR, The headgasket broke, they break all the time expecially in hondas, The heat gauge had been jumping around but like the previous post said the mechinc told me it was okay. I kept checking the coolant AND IT WAS FULL. By the time it was spiting coolant out the overflow it was to late the headgasket was broke, Maybe if the resivoir was on it would of prevented the block from cracking along with the head but its hard to say for sure. Somtimes the Blocks crack first which leaks the coolant out and breaks the gasket. Either way The intercooler is big enough, THere was coolant in the car, It blew up im dealing with it. Maybe if there was a resivor i wouldnt be spending a ton of money on a new motor id just be paying for the headgasket, either way its been about 5 months since it happend so ive moved on. Just wish people had the facts before assuming.

i dunno fact or fiction?

Conditions such as engine overheating and abnormal combustion (detonation and/or preignition) can also cause a head gasket to fail. would that play a roll in urs?

I would check your washer fluid. If its less then half way.. thats your problem.

Boost_Junkie wrote:

I would check your washer fluid. If its less then half way.. thats your problem.

i LOL'd ALOT!