No apparent leak, but coolant is low 2 or 3 times per day since coolant light came on 3 days ago?

Tiny
ROBERTNDAWN
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 FORD TAURUS
  • 168,500 MILES
Three days ago while driving, the low coolant light came on. The car started to make a whining sound, but the temperature gauge never moved from a normal position of just below halfway between H and C. My husband checked the coolant when I got home and added about one gallon of water. The next day he drove the car roughly 40 miles with no problems, later that day I drove it 10 miles and the low coolant light came back on and the whining started again after two miles. When he checked it again, he added half a gallon of coolant and we then drove the car 60 miles, again with no problems. This morning, there is no coolant in the reservoir and no signs anywhere over the last three days of any leak. What is wrong and how do we fix it?
Thursday, May 24th, 2012 AT 11:55 AM

8 Replies

Tiny
DRCRANKNWRENCH
  • MECHANIC
  • 3,380 POSTS
Check around the water pump pulley and see if there is any coolant in the area.
Is there any smokey color to the exhaust?
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Thursday, May 24th, 2012 AT 12:31 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
There must be a leak somewhere and you need to performa pressure test to loace the leak. If you don't seee any external leaks, check the interior. If the heater core leaks, the coolant would flood the cabin. Lift up the carpet to check.
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Thursday, May 24th, 2012 AT 12:31 PM
Tiny
DRCRANKNWRENCH
  • MECHANIC
  • 3,380 POSTS
Also get the trouble code pulled. And Advance Auto or Auto Zone will do this for free.
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Thursday, May 24th, 2012 AT 12:31 PM
Tiny
NEILSCUSTOMS
  • MEMBER
  • 8 POSTS
The coolant tanks are bad for leaking check for a crack in the under side hard to notice leak
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Monday, June 18th, 2012 AT 1:36 AM
Tiny
DRCRANKNWRENCH
  • MECHANIC
  • 3,380 POSTS
The coolant tanks would loose that much coolant in 40 miles of driving. I would think the radiator cap is bad for circualting so much into the tanks.
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Wednesday, June 20th, 2012 AT 10:17 PM
Tiny
NEILSCUSTOMS
  • MEMBER
  • 8 POSTS
Apparently experts don't know the coolant tank on a ford taurus is pressurized and the cap screws onto it nothing but hoses go to the radiator
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Thursday, June 21st, 2012 AT 12:30 AM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
When cooling system leaks, the best way to go about is to perform a pressure test. That was what I recommended in the first place. No matter what system is used, the pressure test cannot fail.
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Thursday, June 21st, 2012 AT 12:19 PM
Tiny
NEILSCUSTOMS
  • MEMBER
  • 8 POSTS
I have changed 25-30 of these tanks it is hard to detect and most people aren't like us and have a pressure testing system not saying it is the tank but is something to also check
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Thursday, June 21st, 2012 AT 12:36 PM

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