2003 Ford Expedition losing coolant but no leaks
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2003 Ford Expedition losing coolant but no leaks
Hello everyone. I hope someone can help me. I have a 2003 ford expedition 4.6 that recently started to lose coolant with no visible leaks.About every 300 miles I have to top off the coolant reservoir. I looked at and inspected all hoses and transmission cooler lines, and waterpump and all possible places, but no signs of a leak. Where is it going. When I first noticed this, I saw some droplets that looked like water on the windsheild amd hood but when I turned on my wipers to clear it, it sort of smudged Across the windsheild. Didnt think much of it at the time. I no longer see this but it has been about 2 months since I noticed this. Again however I see no leaks.There is some milky substance on the underside of my oil cao but wjat I understand is that this could be from condensation. Oil dipstick has nothing but pure oil on it.drives just as good as new. No smoke, no check engine lights. Where could the coolant be goinf guys?
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If it's not showing visible signs of leaking then the coolant it likely being burnt/evaporated in a cylinder. This would be a blown head gasket issue. A compression test will determine which cylinder has the issue.
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It could be a mild smoke (steam) that you can't see by eye. You said the leak took time to make the coolant level go down. Such a slow leak would not be noticeable in the exhaust. You would need to do the compression test to know for sure.
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So you think it's the cylinder head gasket? How much would you expect repair cost to be? Could it possibly be anything else like the pressure cap and if so what would be the symptoms? Where can I get this ''dye'' that I hear everyone talking about? And could a cylinder head gasket go out even if the engine has never overheated?
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Do you mean a cylinder compressin test?? How exactly do these test work and how would you definatley know if the head gasket is leaking? Wouldn't it set a engine light? Im sorry for all the questions Im just trying to weigh all options
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No, what I am saying is that the head gasket is a possibility and a compression test is in order to confirm or eliminate the possibility. This is your first step since there are no coolant leaks to be found elsewhere.
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Ok I just noticed something......for the first time in months. Apparentley it is not losing coolant because every now and then, that coolant that I thought was disappearing will all of a sudden fill the coolant reservoir to the full cold mark when the engine is turned off. But when it warms up, coolant level drops dramitically. Almost empty. Isn't this the reverse of how it is suppose to operate?
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Typically this is a sign of a restricted radiator. But with a restricted radiator you will also generally get higher engine temperatures.