Coolant Overflow Bottle Bone Dry Second Time

[DC33VN]

Hey guys long story short i have changed my radiator , thermostat , radiator hoses , radiator cap and water pump and since then my overflow bottle has gone bone dry 2 times and im freaking out as i have checked my oil cap and its not milky and the fact that i have basically changed the whole cooling system and this is happening.

has anyone else had this same problem or know what it could be cos from what iv seen i cant see any coolant leaking.

[zebra]

Is it just the overflow or is if draining the radiator?

[scotty nm35]

Was there an issue before you swapped all the parts? Mine drank water like that for a year until I replaced the head gasket due to a small split.

[DC33VN]

last time i filled it up when the overflow went empty, now yesterday the coolant had about 2 fingers left in the bottle and i had a looktoday and there is nothing left then i went filled petrol and have not checked the radiator yet

[DC33VN]

long story short i bought this car and it sat for 1 year as i was still on my ps and when i was getting a power steering belt changed i later on realised something must of hit the standard radiator and there was a hole so i swapped it out for a just jap one. upon getting my fulls i got it tuned there was a hairline crack in the water pump so that was swapped out and i thought id might as well do the thermostat as the rest of the cooling system was new

[sagluren]

hey you bleed the cooling system of air... it could be just bleeding the air from the system and using the coolant from the overflow like it should.

cheers sam

[mattie4270]

If its not leaking on the ground then its probably going in a cylinder,most probably a headgasket.Check the sparkplugs,if ones a bit chalky then thats the cylinder

[DC33VN]

hey you bleed the cooling system of air... it could be just bleeding the air from the system and using the coolant from the overflow like it should.

cheers sam

system was bled and filled up after so i doubt it could be that.

If its not leaking on the ground then its probably going in a cylinder,most probably a head gasket.Check the spark plugs,if ones a bit chalky then thats the cylinder

coming to think of it i have had a really bad misfiring on idle so i will def give the spark plugs a check tomorrow

[mattie4270]

Bingo,hopefully its the headgasket,no big deal really!

[DC33VN]

ah great more headaches.... i just hope and pray its not the head gasket

[mattie4270]

Was the car missing prior to the coolant loss?

[starwarz]

Could be air still working itself through the system keep on filling up and hope it stops, give it 5 more cold start-ups to be sure.

This happened to me, more then twice when i went for a drive checked the coolant in the morning and nothing was in the overflow

turned out my radiator cap was shot and no pressure was in my hoses (check for pressure in yours) changed it and 2-3 times after that it did the same

thing just not as bad and i just kept on feeling her up until coolant stayed. I reckon air still in the system ! i was afraid my head gasket or worse

cracked block was the problem, thank god it wasn't.

Edited August 27, 2012 by starwarz

[DC33VN]

around the same time id say

[mattie4270]

Sorry but it doesnt sound good,check your plugs tomorrow mate and take it from there.

[DC33VN]

poppedd in to my mechanics today he is leaning towards a air leak as when he put more fuel into the tune the car started to idle better.

so its going in next monday for a smoke test and a pressure test on the cooling system

[mattie4270]

Good idea,hope it works out well

[DC33VN]

thanks mate... this is the last thing i need now haha.. had car in lock up for a yr just watching it till i got my fulls and hopefully i dont need to watch it for another yr till i save $ to build the engine

[boostn0199]

It still needs bleeding there hard to bleed. I keep bleeding it then let it cool down and check overflow bottle until level stablizes takes close to 10 times til fully bled so nothing to worry about, either keep topping it up til it stops losing or bleed it.

Edited August 28, 2012 by boostn0199

[aphid]

turbo coolant lines are something else you could check

[DC33VN]

changed radiator cap from the so called nismo one i bought which was prob some fake china crap and bled the system and so far have not lost anymore water upon driving 2 days now