losing antifreeze??

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gmguy

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I have a 2009 HHR 105,000 miles. have been fighting disappearing antifreeze. replaced all of the following: all hoses and clamps, radiator, thermostat, radiator cap.
pressure tested at 15PSI and it held for an hour. (cold engine)
pulled all plugs, look good and the same.
mechanic shop tried die and black light. no luck.
no white smoke from exhaust.
tried head gasket sealant out of desperation. no luck.

never any wet spots under car and car runs flawlessly with no codes. does not overheat and fan works.

Antifreeze did turn brown and thick and turned old hoses soft. Cap was defective. also thought tranny cooler may have leaked leading to the radiator change. all oil and tranny fluid is normal with no lose of fluid.

was told to pull bottom o ring from cap and try running without pressure on cooling system. This seemed to stop my lose of fluid, however my brown film started to return again.

I had driven the car for 1500 miles from first brown sludge till now with only losing fluid. within 150 miles of running with no pressure the brown started again?

Long story, but I am stumped.

Thanks for reading
 
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did you or your mechanic do a hydrocarbon test on the engine coolant?
 
did not do that test
 
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well that is how you check for an interally leaking head gasket and a compression test might be a thought.
 
appreciate the advice. Will likely take to dealer. Service Dept will evaluate and find the answer for $90.00. I just don't like admitting defeat and do not have the tools for the mentioned tests.

I suspect the head gasket and am willing to take that job on. Was thrown off when engine did not overheat.


Nothing ventured nothing gained.
 
The coolant test kit you can buy at an auto parts store you dont need a mechanic
 
thank you for that, I will go tomorrow and pick one up. I repeated the pressure test on the coolant system and left it overnight this time. It was down to zero in the morning. Obviously losing it somewhere.

I pumped it up again and went to work and again it was at zero. No wet spots underneath. unhooked the coils and turned motor over quick and no wet plugs.

Pulled tranny line off radiator and it did not bubble or allow pressure to drop fast, thinking this is not the problem.

I am now thinking its going into the oil pan.

Will synthetic oil turn milky when its mixed with coolant?

Intake gasket vs head gasket? Will get test from auto supply
 
have you looked in the oil filler cap and do you see a milky brown substance?
why intake gasket if you see something in oil?
 
found my missing fluid. in the oil pan. Synthetic oil must not turn milky like conventional.

Any ways I have at least solved half the mystery.

Is this indicative of intake gasket? or I suppose a cracked head too.

Next step I guess is start turning wrenches.

Any other suggestions before tearing it down and getting head tested, surfaced and replace the gaskets?
 
Are there special tools needed for this engine(2.2L). Was told that with Dual Overhead Cams there might be. none of the local mechanics want to touch this job.
 
I must have goofed up on a post. It never showed on the thread

The missing antifreeze was located in the oil pan.

I suspected the head gasket, maybe the head is cracked. will have that answer soon enough.
 
your best bet is a manual, Hanes or Chilton, that covers head removal in detail which would show if anything special is needed
 
quick update.

Pulled the head and had it tested and shaved. reassembled the engine and has the same issue. Not being one to give up that easily, I pulled it again and repeated the process of new gasket, bolts and torque procedures.

Second time we filled the block with water prior to assembly. once the head was torqued we attached the radiator and pressure tested the cooling system without adding any additional water. leaving the head dry and the block wet.

The coolant began to run out of the oil drain plug again. The problem is in the block not the head or head gasket.

I am in the process of looking for a used engine.

Any suggestions on something else I may have missed would be appreciated.

Tanks for all your time
 
sorry to hear it's the block. Did the engine ever severely overheat?
 
the vehicle has been in the family since being purchased new. It has never overheated at all. continued to run like a champ until I pulled it this week. never threw any codes. I believe that it would have had we not kept a good eye on the fluids.

Found a wrecked car and swapped engines.

Just finished the install. Next step is to put the engine on a stand. We are going to pull it apart and try to find the leak. Can't stand not knowing after all this time and work.
 
let us know what you find
 
Final Report.
Finally had time to dig in.

We pulled the oil pan, lower half of the block and the crankshaft. This allowed better but still limited vision.

The leak was near the #4 cylinder. There is a casting line half way up the top half of the block. The leak was in or very near this casting mark.

I assume that a minor defect finally gave up. No significant crack could be seen. We could see the water leaking from this area but could not see exactly the location so we turned the engine upside down and kept pressure to it. sprayed with a soap solution and the air bubbles pin pointed the leak.

If I had a chance to do this over, I would have put the dye in the coolant and dropped the oil pan before doing the second head gasket. Actually this would be a good first step as the oil pan is just a caulk gasket. I would have saved a lot of time and a little money too.


Thanks for your advice. Hope someone will find this beneficial.
 
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