can't figure out where coolant is going

[tompands]

My 2003 Ranger 3.0 has got an issue. At first I suspected a head gasket. The coolant goes down every time i start the truck, but there's nothing leaking anywhere, and there's nothing coming out of the exhaust. It never overheats. where the hell is the coolant going??? I filled it up yesterday, and was down this morning and had not ran any. I parked it on my concrete driveway to be sure and nothing on the ground. It don't go down a lot, maybe an inch or two. Could it be air pockets??

 

[sgtsandman]

Have you looked at the front of the radiator yet? You may have to undo the mounting bolts to see the front of it if you have A/C. The condenser will be hiding the front of the radiator. It could be leaking enough to do what you are describing but not drip on the ground because it evaporates enough to allow nothing to show. Even pin hole leaks will be issue but not be seen if in the right places.

Less common but I've seen it happen. A coolant hose fails internally allowing coolant to wick along the reenforcing cords and out the end of the hose.

 

[SenorNoob]

I usually have the hardest time finding a hose that is just barely not tight enough. They leak only under pressure.

 

[rubydist]

I had a SHO with that issue back in the day. One day I happened to open the hood while it was warm and saw a little coolant on the top of the engine from a hose that was leaking. It didn't leak enough to drip on the ground, and it would evaporate before the next morning, so I only found it because I had the hood open while it was warm before it could evaporate. You may have the same kind of thing going on.

 

[pentode]

I usually have the hardest time finding a hose that is just barely not tight enough. They leak only under pressure.

+1 If you're lucky you get one just bad enough and in a spot where it will just leak out all the pressure it's trying to build going down the road, then there's no pressure in the system to push any coolant out once you park it. And as it cools it won't drip but will just suck air in. Those are fun.

 

[fixizin]

Do you SMELL coolant when you lift the hood just after shutting down?

Check your OIL, make sure you don't have the dreaded "chocolate milkshake thaaang" goin' on, where instead of going into the combustion chamber and out the tailpipe, the "missing" coolant is getting into your crankcase via various possible paths.

Hopefully NOT that, then my bet is on the silly little 1/4" hoses that tee-off from both heater hoses, in order to "warm up"(?) the intake manifold...

... whole lotta valleys and hot surfaces that coolant could drip into while crossing 2/3rds of the width of your engine bay in those tiny hoses.

 

[tompands]

no smell of coolant, I will check over the hoses on motor, nothing in the oil-clean and fresh. I'll also check the radiator real good. It's got to be something stupid like what you are saying. I might also do a pressure test on it to see if I see a leak.

 

[superj]

my similar experience is it was the radiator weeping down in a spot i couldn't see easily.