i have a 94 3.4L and i have a problem where i will always be missing about half a gallon or a quarter gallon of water in the radiator every time i drive it

so far i replaces the radiator, radiator cap,thermostat,thermostat sensor, fan........ lol im stuck i don know what can be the problem a few months ago i had changed one of the head gaskets that had blown do to a water leak in the radiator but the car drives fine so i dont think it can be it is there any where else that i should be looking?? and i look under the car and no water drops... i really dont know what to think about it lol so if you guys can give me your advice i would really appreciate it thank you

also i always mix 50% water and 50% coolant fluid

 

That is alot of coolant to be losing so it should be noticable somewhere. Did you give a thorough examination of the motor to make sure there isn't any noticable traces of fresh coolant anywhere. Are your radiator hose connections tight? How is the oil level, higher then normal, milky appearance? Also, it might be worth checking the line that runs from the radiator to the overflow tank and make sure that doesn't have any cracks in it.

 

I had the exact same problem, turned out to be a partial clog in the overflow hose. It was the Dexcool crap that dried up and solidified. It would allow the coolant to blow past it when under pressure, but wouldn't draw back under vacuum when it cooled down, it would just colapse the tubing.

I had kept adding coolant, adding coolant, didn't even realize the overflow was overflowing.

 

I also had that same problem many years ago. It turned out to be the water pump. It has a weep hole just underneath the pulley... you may need a mirror to see it. This weep hole allows a little coolant to leak out when the bearing is starting to go due to wear. Its supposed to be an indicator to let you know to change the water pump rather than it just seizing on you in the middle of nowhere. It usually just has a small stream dripping only when the engine is running and hot. It is very easy to miss but can definatly leak that much coolant at a time. Something to check anyways

 

thanks guys im going to go check it out today

 

well i finally figure out where its leaking i started the motor and waited about 15 min just starring under the hood finally when i shut it off after about 3 minutes it started to leak out from the hose the goes to the thermostat and it would leak onto the block and the block would evaporate it since it was hot so thats why i couldnt figure it out

now i just have one more problem to fix and the car would be great it feels like it has no pull when you hit the gas im going to try to bring it to a mechanic to check it out., when ever i would go and hit the gas it would pick up very slow so i checked my spark plugs and everything is fine i changed all the filters and oil and still the same thing. and the engine runs fine so thats why its kind of trowing me off

 

Are you getting an SES light? Maybe it is a clogged cat, but hard to say. As for the leaky hose, have you tried tightening the clamp?

 

i only see a ses light when ever i drive passed 60 mph and then slow down i dont know why ? i even changed the egr valve but still the same other then that i brought the car to 4 different mechanics and they all said that the mechanic didnt do a good job putting the head gasket on and thats the problem. because when ever i would drive it and i would rev it up to about 4,000 rpm it would over fill the reserve and spray out so my dad still says he thinks that it might be the water pump but after having everyone tell me it the head gasket im starting to lead towards it i donno

so far i put back the thermostat and it over fills more then ever

i went to a friend that works at a discount auto parts and he told me that i can get the 3.4L engine brand new for $1,500 and it comes with a warranty. so im starting to think if it is the head gasket i might as well just drop a new engine in it would almost be for the same money? but anyways is it passable it can just be the water pump?

 

You might want to try to get it scanned to try and get the history codes for the SES light. When the reserve tank is overfilling, is the car overheating as well?

 

no the car doesnt over heat only when the reserve over fills to much it will over heat from the lack of coolant and i had them scan the car and they told me that they cant figure it out because the ses light has to stay on for them to get the code?? im not really sure if that is true though

 

My only other guess at this point would maybe be some air trapped in the system, which could be relieved via the bleeder screws. I would have to assume that if you had a bad head gasket or if it was poorly installed, you would be getting the crankcase oil mixed with the glycol and it would be pretty noticable. Also, when you replaced the radiator cap, did you verify it was the correct one?

 

well when i changed the cap my original cap said 18lbs so i put a new one that also said 18 lbs. by the way about the trapped air that might be a possibility because every time i opened the tub that connects to the thermostat i never spilled any water because there was plenty of air over there. i mean the fluid level wasnt high enough to spill everywhere. where is the bleeder screws on the 3.4L ??? maybe that can be it? also how can i check or tell if there is a little bit of oil in the glycol fluid?

 

I'm not sure where specifically they are. The thermostat housing is usually a place to start looking.

 

There isnt a bleeder screw on the 3.4, at least not one meant for it. The easiest way I've found to bleed the 3.4 is to take the Temperature sensor out of the Drivers side cylinder head. Start filling your radiator up slowly and have somebody watch the hole for the temp sensor. When it starts pouring out of the temp. sensor hole, put the sensor back in, tighten it down and fill the radiator the rest of the way up. Then fill your overflow bottle up about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way and it should purge the rest of the air and level out the overflow bottle itself. If that dont work, you have bigger problems.


One quick tip-- When you fill the radiator after bleeding with the temp sensor hole, let it sit for about 15 minutes then check it again. Most of the time it will settle by itself some. You should do this at least twice, and it should be pretty well good to go after that if it just needed to be bled out.

 

ok well i brought the car to 3 different mechanics and they are all telling me that its the head gasket and i found a guy to do it for $650 but what im afraid is that i heard on this site before where some guys had the actual bloc that had a little crack and that was the real main problem so would it be easy for a mechanic to see that there is a crack or not?? also do you guys think its worth it for $650? i dont know how much that usually cost. also what else should he check since he will be doing the head gaskets??

seriously thank you guys for helping me out if not i would be really stuck lol

ps. after i do this and it doesn't work just look on Channel 7 News for the guy driving his car off the pear lol