If you're leaking antifreeze but not overheating or you have a car leaking antifreeze when parked, you still have a chance to repair your vehicle for a lower cost. Chances are you have either a radiator cap leak, internal coolant leak or an external coolant leak.
If your radiator is leaking, coolant will be lost and the engine will have the potential to overheat. You should not be driving the vehicle anywhere, and should have a mobile mechanic, such as one from YourMechanic, inspect and potentially replace your radiator, as the car will be prone to overheating.
Common symptoms of a blown head gasket include the following:
- External leaks of coolant from under the exhaust gasket.
- Overheating under the hood.
- Smoke blowing from the exhaust with a white-ish tint.
- Depleted coolant levels with no trace of leakage.
- Bubble formations in the radiator and overflow compartment.
When you are losing coolant but no leak is visible, several parts could be the guilty party. It could be a blown head gasket, a fractured cylinder head, damaged cylinder bores, or a manifold leak. However, you may breathe easy if the mechanic does not find any trace of exhaust gases in the coolant.
Shop air or simply the pressure generated by the coolant system can be used to measure the pressure and check for leaks. To test the system using a hand pump tester, make sure the radiator is full. Use the correct adaptor and connect it to the filler neck. Attach the pressure tester to the adaptor.
Five Signs Your Water Pump Is Failing
- Overheating. A dead or dying water pump cannot circulate coolant through your vehicle's engine and, as such, the engine will overheat.
- Coolant Leaks. Coolant leaks from the water pump are common and a clear sign that it's time to replace the pump.
- Corroded Water Pump.
- Whining Noises.
A coolant/antifreeze leak can occur for a variety of reasons, including a blown radiator hose, a bad hose clamp, warped head gasket, or the most common reason, a foreign object kicked up by the truck in front of you penetrating the radiator itself.
Ten minutes or more of normal driving with very low or no coolant will likely result in major engine problems. But if you drive a car with a low coolant level very gently, it might run all day under favorable conditions, light load, cool weather, etc, without harming it.
How long does it take to see results? We recommend you drive/idle the vehicle for 15 minutes. In most cases the leak will be sealed instantly, but others will require up to 20 minutes. If the leak is not sealed in 20 minutes, a second application may be required or mechanical repair may be needed.
If no leaks occur, then you have fixed your coolant leak. Fixing a coolant leak can be difficult because they are hard to locate. Often it will take time to determine if it is an internal or external leak. You might start to wonder if it is worth your time and money to fix this leak.
Corrosion within the radiator is one of the leading reasons that coolant leaks. As the tubes get older and weaker, you may get sediment or debris inside that causes a leak. The sealing gasket between the tank and the radiator can also wear out, and that could lead to a leak.
Jiffy Lube® fluid services help maintain your vehicle's performance in areas such as brakes, transmission, radiator coolant and more.
When your head gasket blows it will allow engine coolant to escape either out of your engine as an external leak or into the combustion chamber of your vehicle. In either case, the escape of the hot coolant through the gap in the gasket can cause pitting or deformation of your cylinder heads or engine block.
A Coolant leak can mean a crack in your engine. If your car is leaking coolant, it can cause an engine to overheat and that can result in a totaled vehicle. The average cost of a coolant leak fix is around $786.00. If you catch the problem early on, it may only be around $100.
A Coolant leaking internally from the intake manifold gasket or cylinder head gasket can end up in one of two places: mixed with the engine oil or burned with the air-fuel mixture in the exhaust. But any significant coolant consumption can strip oil from cylinder walls and etch or corrode aluminum pistons.
