| Savannah Buzz |
Jul 18, 2011 04:49 AM |
Since cooling is a pretty closed system, it either drips out via a hose connection, usually will drip more when system is heated up. Can be a weak coolant jug cap, venting when up to normal pressure. Or it is leaking into places it should not be, like oil (will make milky looking), heater core, or head gasket. Now that last one can show up as drip around gasket, water in oil, or out the exhaust (white smoke). If going out the tail pipe will also usually "steam clean" the cylinder involved, spark plugs may show different color from the others. You can do a pressure test on the cooling system and see if it is leaking down. There is also a chemical test you can buy at auto parts store that will detect combustion gases in the coolant. Sometimes upper hose will become rock hard from extra pressure. Heads can warp from overheated operation, and don't just need gaskets, they need to be machined down at a place like Saul's Cylinder Head over on Ogeechee Road.
Note: while in the auto parts store try to resist the colorful bottles of radiator stop leak and head gasket repair liquid. Now they claim it will work, and it might sometimes, but many older radiators also have lots of calcium build up (from that hard water we enjoy locally). The calcium provides many tiny crevices for the stop leak to also work on, resulting in a restricted radiator. So if you are thinking about some of the mechanic in a bottle, be sure radiator is flushed out first. Some people do have success with these products, but in many cases it is not long lasting. And to give equal time, I spoke with Bar's tech support and they claim a 60% success rate (might be a claim produced by the marketing dept).
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