Hi folks I have a 88 Supra Turbo and running into a bit of a problem. All the water hoses are okay, there is no leaks anywhere. The radiator is almost new and so is the water pump. But every other day I need to add some water to the bottle since it shows empty. I got the pressure tested and it check okay. Any clue is to what could be happening.<br>Thanks

It sounds like you've done a good job of making sure the coolant isn't going anywhere, it's just disappearing, right? mysterious coolant disappearance could be a couple of things, (and maybe even some things I don't know about) so don't get upset right away when you read what I'm about to write. <br><br>First, it could be that the overflow bottle is filled too much and dumping a lot out on the road while you're driving. Then later, it's sucking what's left in the bottle back into the system so, when you check it, the bottle is empty. <br><br>Get around this by checking the level in the radiator. If you do this when the car is hot make sure the engine is running or you could blow your head off when you crack the radiator cap. At any rate, if the car is hot, there should be coolant in the bottle then.<br><br>What I'm concerned about is that you might have a bad head gasket. Maybe not a totally blown one, but one that is weeping into one of the cylinders when the piston is on its intake stroke. This is difficult to track down and prove, but you should do everything in your ability to track it down. So consult a mechanic if you are really worried. <br><br>First look for oil in the water or water in the oil. We're not talking about huge amounts, but just a little oil floating on top in your radiator. Water in the oil is a little more difficult to prove. Because water is heavier, you might not be able to see it on your dipstick. Drain a little of the oil from the pan into a clean container, the first bit should have the water in it so you don't have to dump everything.<br><br>Another way to tell -sometimes- is to get the car warm and running and then check the pipes for white smoke. That is THE tail tell sign on a bad head gasket, but it doesn't have to look the smoke screen on 007's car to be leaking. Small leaks might just have a feather in it.<br><br>You might also check your plugs and see if one or two look any different from the others. Water would affect the combustion and that can show up as a plug that has less carbon on it than the others.<br><br>Like I said at the beginning, don't get too upset right this minute. I haven't seen the car and your problem could be something else, but I've had a similar situation with a Dodge Shadow Turbo I used to own and the symptoms were exactly what you described. The coolant just disappeared, otherwise everything was great, the car started and ran great, no problems at all.

I like your sence of humor, and agree with one of your clues. I have seen that the bottle overflows sometimes and I think it does more while the car is running than when its not. I thought it might be one of the hose that was very soft and had no spring in it causing some air bubbles inside. I replaced the hose and got all the air out of it. The spark plugs are okay, there is no water in the oil or oil in the water. There is no smoke and the car runs great. <br>Do you think the radiator is blocked or something... ? What would be the cause of over flow.... <br>I have noticed that when I come from a drive and open the hood, I do hear some noise from the side where the thermostat is. Tell me what you think Oh wise one.

What's the temp guage doing? A screwed up thermostat could cause the car to over heat and dump all the water out the overflow. That's a big possibility. But your temp guage or water temp light would show it was boiling over.<br> <br>A plugged up radiator is strange, there are too many different places for water to go in there to assume it's so stuffed up.<br><br>How about air in the water pump? Car water pumps aren't positive displacement and have to have at least some water in them to work. That's possible too, but unlikely. Usually the radiator is up high enough to make sure some water gets into the pump. Still, the car would overheat like crazy if this were the case and the symptoms would be a lot like a thermostat.<br><br>The hose with no spring should be on the outlet side of your water pump, not the suction side so it won't pinch or anything like that either because it's under pressure. Only the intake hose has a spring to keep it from pinching under the negative pressure from the pump intake. Soft and spongy? Maybe it was time for a new one anyhow.<br><br>The heater core is a possibility too. But water coming out of that would make the inside of your car all humid and fog your windows up.<br><br>That's about it for the entire cooling systme problems you can have.<br><br>Your last resort is to use your nose a little and sniff around. Anti-freeze has a strong smell and that can lead you right to where your trouble is. If it was coming out the overflow, it would also be all over the bottom of your car and you couldn't miss it.<br><br>You should do a compression test Test each cylinder and watch to see if the compression bleeds off quickly in one of the cylinders. If it is a head gasket, and the leak is small enough that the coolant is going into a cylinder without getting into the oil system you might be lucky. <br><br>This is exactly what happened to my Dodge, I'm just about convinced you have a shitty headgasket. You would never have known at all there was any trouble at all. I think the amount of water going out the exhaust isn't enough for you to notice right now. A couple of gallons every day isn't much. I didn;t want to panic you straightaway until you investigated all the other options, that's why I talked around the subject so much.<br><br>Remember, check all the cheap stuff first, then assume worst case, it could always be something small I can't think of. (but don't bet on it)

I dont have any problem with the temprature its not over heating. I think the radiator is clogged since its slightly damaged. I think one of the line is almost blocked. One due to the weather, my fan cover got cracked and broke into pieces. One of the piece damaged the radiator from inside. I think this may have caused this problem.<br>Thanks for your input

Fan shrouds definitely play an important part in cooling modern cars. Still, even if the radiator core is plugged, it doesn't explain where that water is disappearing to. That's our main concern.<br><br>You said you check the bottle, how about the radiator? Is it down or is it OK and the problem only the bottle? If the radiator's level is OK, then never mind refilling the bottle, it's just how your car works.<br><br>Disappearing water, however especially when the radiator pressure tests good could be something serious. You should take it in to the dealer or a real mechanic and get it fiured out.

Thank you TMkreutzer for your informing article on coolant loss! If you are not a mech you must have been one in a former life! I,m experiencing a slight loss in my 87 Celica with 200K but with a slight overheating prob. The car was overheated once at 140K because of bad water pump. I had to install 2nd cat to get past Cal smogII last time.<br>I advanced the TPS because it was bad I think and running full advance for power. I hate to buy rebuild on old car. Onceagain thanks for info

Not quite a former life, but almost. I was a marine engineer for about 5 years a decade or so ago. I know a fair amount about engines, but mostly I did boiler work. When they start equipping these cars with steam turbines and boilers, I'll be THE man.<br><br>Thanks for the nice comment, I was kind of wondering if what I wrote made sense.

I know this subject is getting too much time but we just discovered another scenerio-water pump bad and weeping slightly-which would go under "use your nose and look!

Thank you for your comments, but this has been an old posting . Apparently the problem was not the water pump it was the head gasket.

Still, additional information like that is always great to get. I'll just file that away in the back of my mind in preparation for the next time we get a question on that.<br><br>Are we talking about the water pump shaft seal going bad and leaking, or the waterpump gasket? It's really unusual to see a waterpump gasket go bad like that.