Coolant Problem
#1
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Coolant Problem
I recently had my heat go out, saw the next morning all my coolant was gone. Went to the dealership to get the red coolant, and filled it up to the fill line. Worked great. Heat was back working and everything. about 45 min later, the reserve is empty again. My car isn't overheating, but the heat doesn't work again. I know something is wrong, what is it. I have a 1996 ES300 with almost 170k
#3
Lexus Test Driver
#4
Lead Lap
OP you have a large coolant leak you need to fix!!
That is anachronistic advice, from the days when cars did not have coolant overflow tanks. Now that cars have had those for many decades, the coolant is added to the tank, and is sucked into the system only through cooling cycle contraction, so you can add coolant at any time.
They say adding a large amount of cold coolant to an overheating old car with no expansion tank was bad back in the day, but I'm not really old enough to have seen that actually cause a problem. Saw my late uncle put stone cold water in the radiator of his overheating 69 Firebird radiator without issue.
They say adding a large amount of cold coolant to an overheating old car with no expansion tank was bad back in the day, but I'm not really old enough to have seen that actually cause a problem. Saw my late uncle put stone cold water in the radiator of his overheating 69 Firebird radiator without issue.
#5
Lexus Test Driver
OP you have a large coolant leak you need to fix!!
That is anachronistic advice, from the days when cars did not have coolant overflow tanks. Now that cars have had those for many decades, the coolant is added to the tank, and is sucked into the system only through cooling cycle contraction, so you can add coolant at any time.
They say adding a large amount of cold coolant to an overheating old car with no expansion tank was bad back in the day, but I'm not really old enough to have seen that actually cause a problem. Saw my late uncle put stone cold water in the radiator of his overheating 69 Firebird radiator without issue.
That is anachronistic advice, from the days when cars did not have coolant overflow tanks. Now that cars have had those for many decades, the coolant is added to the tank, and is sucked into the system only through cooling cycle contraction, so you can add coolant at any time.
They say adding a large amount of cold coolant to an overheating old car with no expansion tank was bad back in the day, but I'm not really old enough to have seen that actually cause a problem. Saw my late uncle put stone cold water in the radiator of his overheating 69 Firebird radiator without issue.
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#8
Lead Lap
OP are you sure your car is not overheating? You are obviously losing so much coolant that you get no heat, typically this also affects the temp gauge as it is not submerged so you could overheat the motor but the temp gauge and overheat light will not indicate such.
#9
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Well I suppose if you are adding coolant incorrectly, though I still have not heard or seen of this happening in practice have you? That is academic though, the only prescribed way to add it is the expansion tank. The owners and service manuals do not have any language about when you can add coolant, you can add it at any time through the tank.
OP are you sure your car is not overheating? You are obviously losing so much coolant that you get no heat, typically this also affects the temp gauge as it is not submerged so you could overheat the motor but the temp gauge and overheat light will not indicate such.
OP are you sure your car is not overheating? You are obviously losing so much coolant that you get no heat, typically this also affects the temp gauge as it is not submerged so you could overheat the motor but the temp gauge and overheat light will not indicate such.
#11
Lexus Test Driver
Well I suppose if you are adding coolant incorrectly, though I still have not heard or seen of this happening in practice have you? That is academic though, the only prescribed way to add it is the expansion tank. The owners and service manuals do not have any language about when you can add coolant, you can add it at any time through the tank.
OP are you sure your car is not overheating? You are obviously losing so much coolant that you get no heat, typically this also affects the temp gauge as it is not submerged so you could overheat the motor but the temp gauge and overheat light will not indicate such.
OP are you sure your car is not overheating? You are obviously losing so much coolant that you get no heat, typically this also affects the temp gauge as it is not submerged so you could overheat the motor but the temp gauge and overheat light will not indicate such.
I haven't seen it happen personally, but my uncle who's a mechanic, has seen it plenty of times to know it's a real thing. It's not hard to imagine, with the aluminum head and block seen in many cars.
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