itsaprothing Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 I have an 83 with the digital dash and recently i've been noticing that after start up sometimes, it leaves the check light red, and when I press the check button, it says water. but after filling water, a few miles later or maybe even the next day, when I start the car again, it's asking for water again, and the reservoir is empty again. I obviously have a leak, but I can't seem to eyeball where it's coming from. anyone know where it is and why it could be leaking other than old age? also, is it a problem I need to fix immediately? thanks, all the help is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 If you are losing that much coolant in a day it's definitely something that needs to be addressed. You should also be adding 50/50 water coolant, not just water, the water will evaporate out, plus not provide proper protection to the system. You need to look everywhere, everything on the car is 30yrs old, could be the heater core, radiator, any of the hoses in the engine bay, water pump, etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 I'd also check your oil too and quickly. Make sure it is not chocolate milk looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xenonxiii Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 Your Overflow might have cracked. That would be the First place I'd Look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger.svoboda Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 look around the radiator cap for green crud. I've had two that cracked at the neck and needed to be resoldered. You don't notice much until the car is at operating temperature but if you look closely you may see the leakage then. Unless the head gasket is popped and the oil looks crappy. You need to look at everything while it is hot. The hose from the radiator to the expansion tank can get kinked and the fluid is then forced out the radiator cap instead of going to the expansion tank. when it cools it then sucks the fluid out of hte expansion tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aarang Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 I've had a head gasket leak before on the outside on cyl #6 just aft of the heater line outlet. The water would mostly run down on top of the transmission. It doesn't take a very large leak to make your coolant level drop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powershotnt Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 The seam at the top of my radiator let go..leaks pretty good. Do you park it in an area that you can look under it to see if it is marking its territory??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsaprothing Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 still looking around the problem. overflow is not cracked. doesn't look like it's coming from cyl 6. someone suggested heater core? but if it was heater core wouldn't it leak inside the car? sorry for the late reply btw. been working on my other project car >.< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrism Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Any white smoke coming from the exhaust? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsaprothing Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 no white smoke at startup nor when driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsaprothing Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 after driving the car I can see it leaking drops at a time coming from somewhere between the front wheels, although i haven't had a chance to get it on a lift to see exactly where it's coming from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xShodaimex Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 my leak came from the hose to the little coupler thingy right before the hose to the firewall.[left side of the block when looking from front] next to the auxil. fan. I believe its the heater hose.. try looking at yours. These old hoses get really hard and starts to crack . tends to leak near the edges where the clamp holds it in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldschool2 Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 The attached pic shows how I by-passed my broken heater hose set-up. May not be the problem here, but if so the pic shows how. Of course the heater will not work as noted in the pic (heater is basically disconnected). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xShodaimex Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 so practically what you did was plug the hose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldschool2 Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 The water hose is not plugged. The water travels from the engine "heater hose out outlet" to the "heater hose water return inlet" on the engine. The net effect is that the heater is bypassed. The reason for the above is / was to avoid having to dig into the dash area to replace the worn-out heater hose that traveled from the engine "out" to heater assembly (under the dash). If the hose was simply plugged there would be no water (coolant) circulation in the engine. Not a good thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zfeldstein Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 I had the same exact problem a couple months ago. The problem with my car was that there was a leak from the coolent to the radiator. I had to get a new radiator and hose. Problem has been fixed ever since i got the new parts. Hope that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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