losing coolant?

[2016subbforest]

Coolant in the reservoir tank was hanging out at the bottom, near LOW. i'm not going to lie, I never checked it or the radiator until now. I have the super coolant that’s suppose to be good for 11 years or 100k+ miles. I have 45k and the vehicle is 5 years old. It’s a 2016 subaru forester I purchased brand new. Anyway…

I added coolant to near the full mark… drove to work and back. (60 miles). Checked the level in the reservoir tank and it’s near the bottom again. The radiator is full, though.

Should I be worried? No lights, signs of over heating (i think) etc… I do smell a plastic bag like burn. Think I got some oil on the exhaust pipes when I changed it. anyway, what should i be looking for? thanks in advance~!

 

[HyundaiAbuser]

First look for any leaks, second perform a combustion leak test, if neither of those then the block may be cracked somewhere and you may just be left topping off consistently.
Start around the radiator and any hoses you can trace, if you cannot find it there then it could be in the heater core. Combustion leak kits are somewhere in the ballpark of 30-50 bucks if you're willing to spend that.

 

[The Critic]

Radiator was probably low so topping off the overflow resulted in the coolant being sucked into the radiator.

 

[demarpaint]

I agree with @The Critic. Having said that keep an eye on it, if it goes down and you don't see a leak, pressure test the cooling system to check it.

 

[Trav]

Make sure it is full, let any air burp out of the system close it up and check it again. If it is low pressure test it and look for obvious leaks in hoses radiator, etc if nothing external it is quite possibly a head gasket on these engines, they are not notorious for it.
Engine out heads off, etc. $2500 or so with new timing components if that is what failed.

 

[2016subbforest]

i never checked the cooling system ... EVER. this is the first time i checked/noticed. i don't know if it's been gradually "evaporating" slowly... or it just disappeared in the past week.

anyway, i should've checked the radiator first before i added coolant the first time. i didn't expect to be that low. i probably added about 1 cups worth each of the 2 times i filled

thanks again. i'll keep an eye out.

 

[JohnnyG]

Checked hot or cold?

 

[Ihatetochangeoil]

I put a piece of tape vertically on my reservoir tank, measure and record how much coolant I add when I add it, I use a colored sharpie on the tape and date the line on the tape. All this is really simple stuff and I agree with The Critic above; but from this point forward, what positive steps do you intend to do? And oh yes, by all means, I'm only interested in reading the fluid level after the vehicle has sat overnight and is 100% cooled off.

 

[JohnnyG]

I'm only interested in reading the fluid level after the vehicle has sat overnight and is 100% cooled off.

Then it should be near the bottom of the tank, so it has room to expand.

 

[SlamFire]

Let me suggest you go to an Autoparts store and rent a coolant system pressure tester. I am of the opinion, having gone through this on another vehicle, that you have an internal leak.

If you have a leaking/blown head gasket, due to a warped engine block or warped cylinder head, than coolant will go from the cooling system, into the cylinder, and be blown out the tail pipe.

There is also the possibility of a cylinder head crack. This will not only pressurize the coolant system, and blow seals, but the crack will allow coolant to be sucked into the cylinder.

You could also have a seal leaking somewhere, coolant coming out when the system is pressurized, and then evaporating into the air. If the engine compartment smells of antifreeze, you may have a leak.

And then, the radiator could have a leak.

Conduct a pressure test, see if the pressure drops, and sniff and look for leaks. If you can't find the leak, it is probably inside the engine, like cracked cylinder head, blown head gasket.