1996 Mercury Marquis loss of coolant

AMAZEDREF

MEMBER
1996 MERCURY MARQUIS
V8
2WD
AUTOMATIC
129,000 MILES

My 96 mercury has had the t-stat replaced with a factory unit and a new rad cap but I still push a lot of coolant out the expansion bottle until it reaches a certain level, lower than it should be and then the guage does great and everything seems good in the car but stop and look under the hood and there is only an inch or two of coolant in the bottle the car does not smoke or have any fumes related to a head gasket from the tailpipe nor does it have any green spark plugs what do you think I should look at next I know a thing or two about cars but am kind of at a loss now

5 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,867 POSTS

Is the engine overheating? Does it stop losing coolant after it reaches a certain level?

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Monday, June 21st, 2010 AT 11:56 PM

AMAZEDREF

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Yes at a certain level about an inch or so in the bottle and all is good I have refilled the bottle one time with the engine running at operating temp and drove it and the coolant level did fine it was only one time so that could be hit or miss info and no the car does not overheat it just acts like the bottle was way over full and pushes it out past the cap( which has been replaced) just like during warm up if you left the cap off the coolant level would raise up and overflow the bottle until the t-stat opens this is exactly what it is doing but with the cap on

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Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 AT 9:52 AM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,867 POSTS

So, if the engine is cold, you remove the radiator cap and start the engine, coolant shoots out? If that is incorrect, the engine runs at a normal temp, and there is always a small amount in the overflow, I wouldn't be too concerned. However, if what I described above is correct, you may have a bad head gasket.

Let me know.

Joe

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Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 AT 6:30 PM

AMAZEDREF

MEMBER
3 POSTS

With the coolant bottle at the full mark (engine cold) start the car and drive to work during warmup cycle the coolant pushes out past the cap until the tstat opens and then the level is low but engine never overheats during a normal warmup cycle the coolant does not get pushed out past the cap I looked at the plugs and smelled for coolant at the tailpipe thinking head gasket but no symptoms any other sugestions of what to look at a friend of mine had the ideal that the radiator may be partially plugged but I thought that should happen after the tstat opens not before

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Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 AT 11:40 AM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,867 POSTS

Something tells me that you have a headgasket problem if it is forcing coolant out. Keep in mind, you could have a bad head gasket and it never makes it into the combustion chamber to burn it or the oil. THe leak could just be building pressure in the cooling system when under pressure (compression).

You could try to flush the radiator, but there really isn't much flow through it when the engine is cold and the t-stat is closed. So I question if that is the cause. You may want to try a compression test to see if any of the cylenders are low.

Let me know.
Joe