Extremely heavy coolant leak

BRANDON CARON

MEMBER
2004 PONTIAC GRAND AM
3.4L
V6
2WD
110,392 MILES

When I add Prestone 50/50 "coolant" it literally all pours out of the car in a complete steady stream the reservoir holds absolutely no coolant what so ever. So when I attempt to drive my vehicle home from work it nearly over heated. Prior to this I believe I had a slow leak. I felt as if I was putting in more coolant than the vehicle needed. To add to the issue mid winter 2017 around September I lost heat it worked but not well at all, so I had added more coolant as I read that it may help with returning the heat in the vehicle and that it did, not well but it did. So here I am mid June of 2017 the twenty second to be exact I finally had the "low coolant" light flashing every twenty or so miles. Then boom I come out from work and it is still on but this time constantly. I had my family drop off more coolant to put in. When I realize as I am applying the coolant that it feels like it should have been full by now so I look to see the fill line absolutely nothing! So I look under the car assuming that it was leaking and yes I was completely correct and it was not slow at all, it spilled about nearly as fast as it went in. I am not car savvy and I will not pretend I know what I am talking about. I am in need of a solution as I have work at 4:00 pm EST USA, any thoughts? Hopefully it is a bad hose somewhere along the line, but I definitely need help any suggestions fellas/gals! Thank you :)

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,916 POSTS

The only thing we can tell you is what you already know. You have a major leak. The good news is those are really easy to find, but you are going to have to crawl underneath and look for it. Pour in water, not antifreeze. Water is basically free, so far.

The best suspects are the lower radiator hose, a cracked tank on the radiator, then the upper radiator hose. Less common would be a corroded core plug in the side of the engine, and those do commonly start out as a slow leak. A heater hose can cause this too. The leak will be just as bad as with a leaking radiator hose, but heater hoses are less than half the diameter of radiator hoses.

If you find where the water is falling out but you do not know what the part is called, try to post a photo of it and describe the location. Do not try to drive the car like that. If you have a temperature gauge on the dash, it may not show an overheating condition because there is no hot coolant that can reach the temperature sensor to tell it it is too hot. That can give you a false sense of security, and result in major engine damage.