losing coolant

[xkitex]

Hi i got a 97 honda civic ex and i have noticed that every now and again i get a little bit of coolant build up near the top of the radiator fan near the reservoir like coolant is leaking out of the reservoir somehow. Every now and again i check my reservoir to make sure i have coolant and i find that it has lost some. Im pretty paranoid because before i got my head gasket changed i would run out of coolant every week or two so now i check it alot. And i notice its not as bad but my car is still losing coolant from somewhere and i really dont know where. There are no visible leaks beside near the reservoir but it isn't very much my car does not over heat at all it just randomly looses coolant.
thanks appreciate the help

 

[RealRabbit]

Any auto parts store has the loan a tool program. Rent a coolant pressure tester. Its super easy, just place it in place of your radiator cap and pump it up to the psi your cap says. Check for leaks. You could have a gasket, hose, reservoir anything else leaking. Let it sitting for a bit to see if it loses pressure. Also, did you pull your oil dipstick to see if its gone up or milky? If you lose pressure and see no visible leaks may want to do a compression test. Also when you did your head gasket did you have the head checked? It should be checked for cracks/warping when you do a head gasket. That's not always the cause but its always a good idea to check.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

 

[xkitex]

When i put out the dipstick it looks like oil just a bit dark yes the head was checked to make sure it was good

 

[TokyoSkies]

When i put out the dipstick it looks like oil just a bit dark yes the head was checked to make sure it was good

Dark is usually an indication of old/burnt oil, but that's separate. If there's no milky/cloudiness to the oil, that generally rules out the head gasket/warped head problem. I would check rad pressure like RealRabbit said, and also do a radiator flush to get all the gunk out of the radiator. Losing coolant means a couple of things: either your heater core is sucking it up (check to make sure there's no fluid behind the driver side floormat/dash), or it's being evaporated/burned up somewhere, or of course a leak. Check your upper and lower hoses for cracks/weathering/holes. Also, make sure they're clamped down good. Usually radiator fluid leaves a weird slimer-jizz looking substance when it dries, indicating a leak. Look for that, too.

 

[RealRabbit]

Dark is usually an indication of old/burnt oil, but that's separate. If there's no milky/cloudiness to the oil, that generally rules out the head gasket/warped head problem. I would check rad pressure like RealRabbit said, and also do a radiator flush to get all the gunk out of the radiator. Losing coolant means a couple of things: either your heater core is sucking it up (check to make sure there's no fluid behind the driver side floormat/dash), or it's being evaporated/burned up somewhere, or of course a leak. Check your upper and lower hoses for cracks/weathering/holes. Also, make sure they're clamped down good. Usually radiator fluid leaves a weird slimer-jizz looking substance when it dries, indicating a leak. Look for that, too.

Very well said.

 

[xkitex]

ill check coolant hose under the distributor that connects to engine it always gives me problems have replaced that one more than any other hose. And i know its off topic but i thought oil was suppose to come out a dark or black color when its changed my oil from the dipstick isnt black (because i just changed it) but when i change the oil it comes out black out of the oil pan.

 

[JohnS.]

I'm surprised no one else has said this (unless I'm blind) but can the coolant reservoir cap be bad?

If there is fluid at the top, due to the laws of gravity, the leak must be coming from the top somewhere, which eliminates a lot of other possibilities.

 

[xkitex]

hmm it could be i did my reservoir from the junk yard hmmmmm ill test out a couple of things