Hello,

I am new to this board. Having a problem with my cooling system on a '94 Chevy Corsica. Hope someone can help me with this. I had a radiator installed recently. Before that, the car was losing radiator fluid and the auto repair shop said I had a hole in the radiator. After the radiator was repaired, there was no more fluid on the driveway, the car was not overhheating, and the coolant reservoir tank was not losing fluid. However, the car felt like coolant was not getting to the radiator. Like it was bone dry. I took it to a mechanic today who told me it has a bad head gasket and showed me the small leak.

My question is this -- if there is no coolant on the driveway, the reservoir overflow tank is still full, and the car is not overhheating how can I be losing coolant? The car also feels like its struggling just to go. Would a radiator flush help this problem? Thank you for taking the time to respond to my question. Appreciate it very much.

Maria

Hi Maria - welcome to the forum.

How is it that you feel the radiator is dry of coolant? Where was the leak that your mechanic pointed out and why doesn't that drip to the ground if it leaks enough?

You had a prior overheating problem which may very well have damaged the head gasket(s). Coolant could be being burned in the engine slowly and you wouldn't see it so fast but it would be low somewhere. That would also explain it not running properly.

The plastic reservoir isn't good enough to tell if system is truly filled. It must be known filled at the radiator and if in fact there is a head gasket or other leak it might not show up as low coolant at that reservior. It needs to be pressure checked and diagnosed to verify what is the current problem.

Some symptoms associated with a head gasket problem are...... air in the system, running poorly, system pressures up quickly from cold, fluctuating temp gauge, white smoke in exhaust, just plain leaking that you can see and mixing of oil and coolant. You may notice heater doesn't work or work well if air is in the sytem.

Checking out and correcting the situation now can really help to not make matters worse. I'd start with making sure system is full at radiator and can stay that way - watch the area pointed out to you and see if that continues or was a fluke??

T
Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest Boston - USA
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http://www.autoacsystems.com/tomgreenleaf/

Tom,

Thank you for your reply. I had the car pressurized and the mechanic showed me the small leak at the head gasket. I was just confused why it was not leaking the coolant on the driveway and why the car was not running hot. It didn't make sense to me. I didn't realize that the radiator had to be filled with coolant separately. Thought if the reservoir tank was full that meant the radiator was also full. The car feels like there is no coolant in it when I'm driving. Guess I need to take it somewhere and make sure there is coolant in the radiator.

Maria

Quote:
Thought if the reservoir tank was full that meant the radiator was also full.
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That is true if everything is working perfectly. It isn't perfect so you have to check at radiator also. Some don't have the cap at the radiator so what should be so simple becomes complicated. If this leak is slow enough and just leaking out and no other problems discuss use of a sealer AYOR with your mechanic.

Be informed and understand use of snake oil fixes. They can work, they might not, they can delay the inevitable, they can cause problems of their own AND could make the real fix more costly in the long run,

T
Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest Boston - USA
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http://www.autoacsystems.com/tomgreenleaf/

Tom,

Thanks again for your help. Called a mechanic this morning and am supposed to take the car in this afternoon to check the coolant in the radiator. Appreciate your help and advice.

Maria