Missing Coolant

[cherrington17]

Ok.. this is odd.

maybe its always been low... maybe i have a really super slow leak. But i just recently i noticed in the mornings as i start driving, once in a while my low coolant light kicks on. (not HARD acceleration, but decent enough to make the fluid shift) so i figured i'd check it.

given that the bottle is a little dirty (i'm not super anal retentive about cleaning the engine bay) i gave it a shake.. still couldn't tell. I poured a little in, shook again... and could see it moving just below where the hoses are... like a full inch, below the "Full Cold" line.

How could it get that low, w/o me noticing any leaks? I definitely have the DexCool Orange. I immediately think LIMG, but my oil is your standard oil color(dark caramel color), and my coolant is definitely orange (not discolored at all) So where else might it leak from? I've slammed on the pedal alot harder in the past, and never got a light... so it must be going somewhere...


where, and how do i check?

[AGT]

Where do you park it the longest period of time without wind influencing a drop sheet

[cherrington17]

Originally Posted by AGT

Where do you park it the longest period of time without wind influencing a drop sheet

longest? i park it in the driveway... wind/rain/snow... everything could influence that.


i might have to commandeer me a garage spot for a couple days.... hmmm

thats the thing... i park in the same 2 spot routinely... and there is never a puddle under either. We tend to notice those things in our driveway. (so we can make fun of someone for having a sh*tty car. )

[AGT]

You mean the wife gets the garage spot?!

I lost a little respect for you just then

[Vinalero]

Originally Posted by AGT

You mean the wife gets the garage spot?!

I lost a little respect for you just then

Depends on the quality of the heads...

for your question cherry, I'd say because temperature is colder, liquid takes less space and light goes on when cold. Mine does the same thing sometimes. Just like last week. Light kicked for 2 seconds while I was making my first turn of the day.

[GA_turbo]

with those engine there are 2 things you got to check, the area around the throttlebody like behind it cause i already ran into a problem like that i couldnt find where it was leaking from till i found it by mistake one day, it was weird because it wouldnt leave any leaking marks on the floor or anything and the other one is the notorious lower intake gasket its starting to go but its not enough to make the oil milky yet and its evaporating.

[cherrington17]

Originally Posted by AGT

You mean the wife gets the garage spot?!

I lost a little respect for you just then

wife!? you mean parents! i'm a broke ass college student! (can't beat free room, board, food, comfy bed, etc)


i'll deal with evaporating. any place besides under the throttle body i can look to see if its leaking?

i know the tubing up front is all solid. i check those each time im under there.

[DansGen1Alero]

clean the area arounf the limg and then keep an eye on it after filling back up, you will be able to see it, or if you look at the limg from the left side and see build up then its the gasket, it could be burned up form the engine and may not see any spots on road, but best bet if u cant tell now is to clean that area and keep an eye on it.

[cherrington17]

...i'll sound like an idiot here.... but...


where do i look for the Lim?

[slvralero420]

lower intake manifold gasket is what they're refering to

[cherrington17]

Originally Posted by slvralero420

lower intake manifold gasket is what they're refering to

hahaha... noob. read again.


WHERE do i look, to find the LIMG? i know of it, i know its common... i just don't know where its located.

[slvralero420]

between the block and the lower intake manifold, look better and think b4 you talk. where do you think something that is named after a part of the motor would be? by that part maybe?

[DansGen1Alero]

just look kinda below and behind the intake inlet and you can locate the manifold and the gasket you can plainly see the seperation and where the gasket is, sorry i dont have a pic, and it has been a LONG time since i been under there

[cherrington17]

intake inlet = air intake?

[slvralero420]

under the thottle body

[slvralero420]

also, I may not have too many posts but ive done alot of work on my own cars and 3 have been 60 degree v6s and my friend has a 3.4 alero, I kinda know alittle about the motor set up

[rustyballs_69]

Thats the throttle body. If your motor is really dirty clean it up under there and check it after a very days to see if you can see it leaking. When mine leaked it would puddle up on the tranny.

[cherrington17]

Originally Posted by slvralero420

also, I may not have too many posts but ive done alot of work on my own cars and 3 have been 60 degree v6s and my friend has a 3.4 alero, I kinda know alittle about the motor set up

oh i'm sure. its just funny to see someone who had 7 posts, commenting on something so general, to someone who has 11k. (even though most of mine have been from total bs'ing, i've still read enough on the subject to have general knowledge)

[rustyballs_69]

Cherry you should know by now( with your 11,189 posts) posts don't mean shit. But dude shouldn't be a dink and see that you don't know where the intake manifold and block meet, so he should have explained where it was instead of telling you he has owned three 60 degree v6s and his buddy owns an Alero with the LA1.

[cherrington17]

^i was using posts as a reference for time. I could have said "i've been here since early 2004"... but we have a bunch of members who have, but haven't been active at all, thus, not reading much. I'm on here all the time, reading stuff i don't even care about. lol

I'm just not mechanically inclined enough to hear LIMG and immediately pull up a schematic in my head of exactly where that is.

i'm also not jumping on the new guy... i just thought it was funny.