I have a 99' chrysler lhs leaking anti-freeze. its not a slow leak, i am constantly adding more around once every other week. i can't figure it out where it is going. no puddles or spots, not in the oil, it's just disapearing. i have high miles (151k) and i am fearing the worst. is it leaking into my engine? head gasket? loose hose? resivoir? where is it going? keep in mind i don't know much about cars plus these chryslers are hard to "get to" which makes it hard to work on and hard to diagnose the problem. what are the possibilities? should i trade or could it be "worth" fixing?

CroCivic91

I can tell you my experience.

On my '90 Honda Civic, i had a coolant leak. When the winter came, i noticed that when i stopped at the light stop, white smoke would rise from under my hood. I checked the temp gauge, and it was fine. I just thought that perhaps it's snow that's thawing since the hood is warm. I popped the hood once and noticed that the radiator is leaking. I bought a new radiator and fixed the problem.

It had a tiny crack at the top, so no water could drip out, it could only escape by evaporating.

labman

You could be lucky like Cro. With colder morning, are you getting more white exhaust than you remember? Does it smell white? Pull the plugs. Do any of them have a lump of crud? All bad signs of a leaky head gasket. One other thing, is to open the hood and look around good with both a cold and hot engine. Some leaks show up with one but not the other.

thomas27

no exhaust but i do smell the coolant at all times its a pretty strong odor. i need to check the plugs tomorrow when i have some daylight then i'll get back with you.

fredg

Hi,
I know this might sound dumb, but have you put in a container of "Radiator Stop-Leak"?
There are different brands and names on the market. Try a container, see if it works.
It just might stop the leak, and doesn't cost very much to try it.
About trading cars; your car is about 6 yrs old. I keep mine, both car and pickup truck, for at least 10 yrs, maybe longer, depending on what has to be repaired. Short of putting a new engine in it, I would keep your car, have the leak fixed. You can always get an estimate before any repairs are made.
Even trading yours for another "used vehicle" means losing money. Personally, I don't buy "new" vehicles anymore.....lose too much money in the process.

DAVE231

One place that may leak and be hard to detect is the heater core. If you get a strong smell inside the car, especially when the heat is turned on, check it out. Just a guess because that happened to me once.

thebriggsdude

i wouldn't try it though, unless your getting ready to trade it in, just think about it, say bars stop leak........ stops small leaks, which is essentially a tiny hole, then think about your radiator, heater coil, thermostat, hoses, water pump..... the radiator and especially the heater coil have tiny holes inside to carry around coolant.


though i would expect myself, a heater coil.

thomas27

i pulled the plugs and didn't see any crud.

Van

I think you may need an compressor test on your cooling systems the find out hidden leaks. I have the same problem on my Ford Falcon. The radiator only shown the leak under pressure. Since replaced the radiator I do not have to top water daidy. Good Luck.

thomas27

i've had a coolant pressure test... nothing showed up... cost $90. the crysler place told me it would cost at least another $90 to see if its in the head gasket or manifold. i told them to f@#k off. i can't keep putting money into their not-so-diagnostic tests.