low coolant in res. But no sign of a leak
Asked by V1karmel Mar 23, 2017 at 12:48 AM about the 2001 Mazda Tribute ES V6 4WD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
So just checked my antifreeze and it was
low there is no sign of a leak or any
condensation on the oil cap nor do I have
white white smoke coming out the
muffler...this is the only time this has
happened and just curious if I should be
worried
2 Answers
Check the oil too, make sure there's no cross contamination. If you're not overheating, and coolant flow looks good, has heat from the heater core, then you might have just ran low over time, the cooling system is a closed system but it can lose some coolant through the overflow hose or degas bottle. Top it off and keep a close eye on it, check it after every drive. If it drops in a short amount of time, you might just be losing a little bit through the head gasket, just not enough to be immediately noticeable at the tailpipe. "Block Tester" can help you determine if you have a head gasket problem, it's a product that checks for hydrocarbons in the radiator fluid, which are a byproduct of combustion gases getting into the cooling system from a blown head gasket. If that comes out positive, then you can run a compression test on the cylinders and see if any of them are significantly lower then the others.
Would this cause cloudy antifreeze and/or trouble starting when temperatures drop?