My 2007 Sebring is losing coolant, a quart and a half a week. No visible leaks, not sure where it is going. It's not in the oil since its not milky looking. Any ideas?
4 Answers
You could have a split in a hose that leaks as you are driving spraying down and away from car on to the road? There are other gurus that can help you determine how to locate this disappearing coolant.
Its strange that there isn't any pools of coolant under the car.
Not all head gasket leaks result in water or oil cross contamination. But I would look for simpler leaks first - hoses, heater core, a bad radiator/degas bottle cap. A leaking heater core can lose coolant through HVAC box condensation drain to the ground while driving and you wouldn't know it was leaking until it gets worse. I would start with something simple like the radiator cap or if radiator is sealed, the degas bottle cap. Inspect it for cracks, if it looks bad replace it. They should be replaced every few years anyhow. A bad one could be allowing unequal pressure to cause coolant to drain to ground while driving through overflow tube. A water pump can also only leak when engine running. Try letting engine run in park for 15 min and see if any puddling occurs. Even check all freeze plugs. If all else fails, it may be a head gasket, a cylinder compression test will indicate if it's good or not.
Most likely culprit if no external leak exists is the head gasket, intake manifold gaskets (on some vehicles), cracked cylinder head or coolant flowing into the transmission through a crack in the transmission cooling loop contained within the radiator. Perhaps have the cooling system pressure tested.
