One of my kids drives the '06 Sportage, 160K miles on it. My mother bought it new, gifted it to us about 2 years ago (they were going to trade it in but got such awful offers that they GAVE it to us...we offered to buy it, but they declined to accept payment). When we got it, the coolant was LOW, and over the past 25000 miles I've noticed an antifreeze smell toward the front of the car after it has been running for awhile. The coolant overflow tank needs a glug of coolant periodically...maybe a gallon every 6 months. The consumption hasn't changed markedly over that period of time.
The oil looks fine, the coolant looks fine, never see any wet spots on the engine or on the ground...where is the coolant going?
My gut tells me it's a small external head gasket leak that is allowing a dribble on the back of the engine(where I can't see it) to escape then burn off of the hot engine. I'm not inclined to mess with it unless it gets a lot worse...thoughts?
The oil looks fine, the coolant looks fine, never see any wet spots on the engine or on the ground...where is the coolant going?
My gut tells me it's a small external head gasket leak that is allowing a dribble on the back of the engine(where I can't see it) to escape then burn off of the hot engine. I'm not inclined to mess with it unless it gets a lot worse...thoughts?