Coolant Loss

Tiny
RUDY0287
  • MEMBER
  • 2001 CHEVROLET SILVERADO
  • 4.8L
  • V8
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 149,000 MILES
I have posted on this vehicle before and gave a complete rundown on what I have done to find the leak. Found bad Intake gasket and replaced. Fluid loss continued but was less than before replacement. The vehicle is not driven much at all until recently. My grandson lives out of state and comes back every two weeks. For the past three months I have lent him use my truck for about eight days at a time and he drove it hard in town and freeway. For the past three weeks I have not had to add any fluid, the leakage seems to have stopped. Checked it again this morning and no fluid loss! Any ideas on what could have caused this change? I was going to pull heads and have them checked but now I don't know. There have been no SRS lights since changing intake gasket and knock sensors and fuel trims look good. I am totally confused.
Wednesday, June 12th, 2019 AT 3:03 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
There are a number of possible reasons but the most likely is a head gasket issue. These can come and go when they are starting to fail. What I would do is just confirm there is not external coolant leak by pressure testing the system using this guide:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/radiator-pressure-test

Once you confirm there are no leaks then you will need to test the head gasket. Here is a guide that will help with this as well:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

Lastly you will need to look for other signs of an overheat to try and explain this. However, you may not find anything if it is not currently losing coolant so you may need to just keep an eye on it and do this when it starts again.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/symptoms-of-an-overheating-engine

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/coolantantifreeze-in-the-engine-oil

If you find a sign of a head gasket, you can try to seal it with this product if it is just starting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi41RFMP8Ow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuEVLFEF0AM

Please run through all this info and let us know what questions you have.
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Friday, July 2nd, 2021 AT 7:37 AM

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