Coolant Loss?

[Chris611]

Lately I have been losing some coolant somewhere in my '97 6.5L. I don't see any obvious leaks. My low coolant light came on a month ago and I added coolant then to the proper level. Now the light is on again. Since I can't see any leaks I assume the coolant is getting used up interally in the engine...right? Is this head gaskets/crack? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Chris

[oldmansax]

When I had the same problem it turned out to be head gasket. I did them both while I had it down. good luck....

[C.K. Piquup]

If you are definately not leaking,you are burning.Remove radiator cap and look for bubbling.If you`re not using alot of coolant,there will not be alot of bubbles.More loss,more bubbles,less time.Good luck

[Marty Lau]

If you have a '97 maybe you have a small leak in a hose or connection. Are the hoses orginals? The resevoir tank is pressurized and if the don't hold pressure you could be blowing it out the overflow a little at a time. (happened too me) It can be hard to spot a small amount out the overflow. I replaced the whole tank and cap as the neck was turning so no seal. Just another lower cost items to consider and check out.

[Chris611]

Thanks guys. I think I will replace the radiator cap and see and also look at the tank to see if the neck is loose. I hope that fixes it otherwise it's going to be an expensive one.

Thanks again.
Chris

[tom.mcinerney]

On mine the bypass hose(?) fr pump to thermo hsg was leaking, also, the coolant reservoir had a crack that i couldn't find until i removed and washed the tank.

[chuckf]

Chris611,
Check around the block heater. I had a similar problem with loosing coolant. The electrical contact on the block heater were leaking (signs of corrosion etc.) It was not leaking that much, but after replacing the heater the low coolant problem went away.

[James Schaack]

Chris,
i had been slowly loosing coolant for several months before i found my problem. i had never seen a leak because all the anti-freeze was accumulating in the fan shroud. the lower shroud does have drain holes but mine were plugged with field debris (damn farm truck). because of this accumulation i never saw any coolant on my garage floor or anywhere else and i too was worried about a cracked head/block. if you haven't already, you may want to pull the top shroud to have a better look just to rule out this little factor. good luck with your problem.

james