coolant loss

[posty]

I have had to add maybe 1 quart total of anti freeze to the overfill bottle to maintain the level between the add and full mark during the past 17,000 miles. Is this acceptable or do i have a problem . I can find no leak. Could it be the head gasket?

This is an 03 Honda cr-v 2.4 .the coolant bottle has no overflow tube.

 

[Rodmiser]

Check top of rador its not metal any more.

 

[Gary_Lindeman]

I am going to post on my oil analysis thread, but I saw this first. I just tracked my coolant loss down by using dye in the coolant and a black light to spot it. Mine is coming up thru a head bolt or rocker stud. Next step is to seal them.

 

[rationull]

How many miles total on the car? I had to add a bit of coolant to my 07 Civic before 20,000 miles. The dealer pressure tested the system and found no leaks but I was skeptical. The level hasn't really come down meaningfully since adding though. I'm not sure if it was just evaporating (non-pressurized system), just finding its level, or what but it seems to be fine now.

Could your situation be like this?

 

[posty]

47,000 on it now 31,000 when i got a year ago. a couple of weeks ago i watched the level for 3 days , it never went down .checked it today and it was down a little after we had some hot weather. some days hitting 90. There is no outlet on the overflow bottle so how could it evaporate?

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: rationull
How many miles total on the car? I had to add a bit of coolant to my 07 Civic before 20,000 miles. The dealer pressure tested the system and found no leaks but I was skeptical.


Some leaks don't occur until the engine is at operating temperature, sometimes not until at higher than normal operating temperature. That's why dye is better than a pressure test for sneaky leaks.

 

[Gary_Lindeman]

I did pressure test first, but no real obvious problems. Held pressure for 15 minutes.

 

[alanu]

I'd suspect the rad or waterpump.

I haven't heard of any headgasket issues on those 2.4's.

Look for any residue at the hoses. Do the obvious before suspecting the headgasket.