Questions and Answers

Coolant Going Where?? Q. My father-in-law's 1997 Buick Park Avenue (3.8 liter engine) suddenly began overheating and losing coolant while driving on the highway. It does not leave a leak spot when it is parked, he can find no leaks on or under the engine, there is no coolant in the oil and it does not smoke through the exhaust.

There is no coolant smell either inside or outside the car. It has lost almost two gallons in 200 miles of driving. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Stan

A. Well, there's only two places the coolant can go, into or out of the engine. What I would suggest is to pressure test the cooling system, both with the engine off and with it running. This will reveal where the leak is. If there is no leakage, then it's being burned in the engine. Sometimes a weak head gasket will be fine at idle, but when the engine is at speed and under a load, it will allow coolant to get into the combustion chambers.

You can also get a test kit that will detect the presence of combustion gases in the cooling system. If the head gaskets are bad, the test kit will pick it up.

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