How's your all's coolant levels looking?

I was watching the wife back the truck out the garage yesterday during a cold start and noticed some steam out the exhaust. It's 80 degrees...It's not the sort of weather you'd see the exhaust condensate into visible steam.

I've seen this before with one of my vehicles that had a coolant passage crack in the head and was slowly leaking coolant into the cylinders.

So in my paranoia, I check the overflow tank and it's about 1" below full cold. It was just a hair over full when I got the truck. The tank was marked. I remarked it where it is now so I can keep my eye on it but this seems like more than would be getting evaporated off.

I'm at 11k miles. How is yours looking?

 

Nominal. 80 degrees is still a "cold start" for an engine. Don't be paranoid. Enjoy your truck.

 

Leaking into transmission?

 

The catalyst is really close to the manifold so it ignites quickly so I'd expect to see some puffs periodically. Saw a newer Lexus today dripping water out the exhaust running 70 down the freeway.....h2o is a byproduct of the catalyst.....

 

if it is then maybe he should put transmission fluid in his coolant bottle

 

I'm trying not to be but ive had to have the engines in my last two cars rebuilt and one replaced 20k after rebuild. Not had the best of luck there.

 

I'm at 15,860. Looks just like yours scooby.
"Condensation" and all. Nothing to be alarmed about. It's 104° degrees today in socal.

 

Mine steams pretty good in the morning. Even with in the high 70's

 

That would be no bueno. We had several issues with that on FMTV's where the trans oil cooler would burst and coolant would mix with the transmission fluid in the way expensive Allison trans. That was time for a new cooler and new transmission. I didn't see that to much in the civilian world when I was a tech though.

 

Well this is making me feel better, thanks gents.

 

Sorry about the bad luck man. I've put 10K on this truck in three months. Maybe it's just me but this engine feels like it is pretty bulletproof. Lots of seat time so far.

 

You're going to lose coolant (it has water in it...) in your expansion tank through evaporation over long periods of time since it isn't a pressurized part of the cooling system.

 

If you're worried, check your oil dipstick first thing in the morning before start-up and if you see any milky type stain on it, worry!
If you don't see any odd milky stain, don't worry.

I'll bet on no worries

Cheers!

 

Yeah that Milkshake is never a good sign.

 

Paranoia intensifies. This like barely over a month and maybe 500 miles later.

 

Buddy, the coolant level in the overflow constantly fluctuates. Unless it's bone dry in there, as others have said, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT!

 

Take your reservoir off & throw it in the trash. No more worries!

 

Expansion tank, It's gonna go up and down. If it was empty, I'd be paranoid.

 

Fluctuation I expect based on temperature...but I'm checking after it's sat overnight in my garage in the same spot. It's going down...my only unknown is whether that loss is accountable due to evaporation alone or not. At this rate, it will be low at 20k miles...the only other vehicle I had go through coolant this fast was my 2010 Terrain that had a crack in the head and was seeping coolant into one of the cylinders and ended up with a whole new long block. I check coolant levels on all my vehicles (21 of them now), always have....so as much as I want to believe this would be normal...in my experience, it's not.

 

As many others have stated the level will fluctuate. If you are really concerned with it schedule an apt and have the dealer check it for leaks. I think its important to remember that there are more factors than just ambient temperatures.