engine losing coolant, oh snap! Options

[celicamike]

Hey guys, my car has been losing coolant steadily for a few weeks now. There are no visible leaks, so it seems that I have a leaky head gasket. What do you guys think? can you recommend any of those radiator and block leak stop remedies from the auto parts store? I'd like to know what I should do about this, apart from telling people I have a "custom water injection".

This post has been edited by celicamike: Apr 6, 2007 - 2:49 PM

[alltracman78]

Don't assume it's a HG and act accordingly.
Verify and THEN act.....

Don't use any of the stopleak stuff unless it's a temp fix.
And once you fix, get a GOOD [not Prestone from Walmart] coolant flush to get all the crap out.

Hit up autocrap and see if they have coolant pressure testers to rent for free.
If so, rent one and use it.

[celicamike]

OK, i put some alumaseal in with the coolant and now everything seems fine. Is there anything else I should do? can I just leave it the way it is now?

[celicamike]

sorry, double post.

This post has been edited by celicamike: Apr 9, 2007 - 2:57 PM

[Gary]

Don't use any of the stopleak stuff unless it's a temp fix.

^^^^^^^
Werd

This post has been edited by Gary: Apr 11, 2007 - 8:25 AM

[tangcla]

You should be able to see where the coolant leaks out if it is an external leak - it goes pink-white (if you're using the Toyota Forlife red coolant) or looks like a brown surface rust (if you're using green coolant).

If it's a headgasket you will get some vapours and your engine oil will have a layer of sludge on top of it, it's hard to explain but you'll see it if you have it. Conversely you will have a milky layer of oil in your coolant when you open the radiator cap.

[hellsyphon]

You better get that fixed soon or that stop leak is going to clog water jackets and whatnot in your engine...