Every week or two i have to refill my radiator. I notice it gets hotter than normal thats how i know its getting low.

the overflow tank isnt leaking
The transmission fluid is still red (no water)
the engine oil comes out without water in it
The ground under the car NEVER has water on it
The exhaust never puffs white (or any color)
the radiator seems to hold pressure after it gets hot, but not a ton.

Its most def. leaking somewhere into something, but i can NOT figure it out! where else can water go?


One more thing... I have a filter between the plenum and the PCV to keep oil from the valve covers out of my motor...

Sometimes I see some condensation in the filter, not nearly the amount of water thats dissapearing from the radiator, but i do get water in there, which is obviouselly coming from the valve covers... But if i pull the valve covers off they are dry only Oil in there no water... same with oil in the pan.

 

I had a similar problem years ago with my '87. I lost coolant for about a year without ever knowing where it was going. It was a very slow leak and hard to find. I ran tests, a couple of shops checked it but never found anything. Finally I raised the hood when it was hot and saw a fine mist spraying from between the head and the intake base, just dumb luck that I saw it. It was such a small amount that the water was evaporating right off the hot intake before it could be seen, thus all the trouble finding it. New intake gaskets fixed it.

 

Well Ive had this problem before with a completelly different intake setup when it was carbed. its an idea though, a spray from somwhere thats evaporating or getting tossed into the fan... hrmm...
thanks for the suggestion ill check it out!

 

Leaky heater core?

 

Cheak the hoses in the back of the engine too, linked to the heater core. Mine was leaking and I never even knew it til I popped the hood one day and saw smoke and noticed it was squirting.

 

Is your carpet wet on the passenger side?

The Trickster!!!!!!!!!

 

I have removed the Heater Core hoses just to make sure its NOT the heater core actually..

What are the chances of a slow leak into a combustion chamber and its burning it off a little at a time?

Or could the heads be leaking up top somwhere and from there its getting sucked into the PCV?

I never see white smoke.. I have dual exhaust though so i cant exactly see both sides at once all the time. How much water does it take before you see the white smoke? would it be evident on one of my plugs? Because all my plugs are pretty same color, white.

 

You may have to get under your car and look for evidence of leakage. I have seen water pumps that WONT leak when just sitting there, but, when the engine is running, will leak out the weep hole on the bottom of the pump....

 

Water pumps can be very deceptive at times........

 

I had that happen with mine (87 TPI 350) I turned out to be the coolant bypass valve! It's the plastic doohickey that sits on top of the engine on the passenger side. It was spraying coolant onto the engine, where it was, of course, immediately evaporating. I wound up putting pieces of cardboard under EVERY hose in the car, when I found the wet one, I knew I had it. These cars are also famous for intake manifold leaks, but you usually get puddles from those.

 

I had a problem like that. My weep hole (I believe thats what it is called) was VERY slowly leaking. I almost never seen anything on the ground. Then the pump finally **** the bed and I got a new waterpump.

 

i had a simliar problem in my 86 305 car- turned out, i pulled the starter off, and sure enough i noticed a little green stuff right under the freeze out plug.... now it never left a drip on the ground, but i'll be damned, i put a gallon of coolant in it probably every 2 or 3 months.... (a little at a time albeit)

 

FOUND IT!!
Last night I was driving down the road when BOOM! The Radiator EXPLODED!!!!

so I pull out the radiator and what do I find? OMG the freaking FAN was eating into the radiator!!!! yeah I have a Fan Shaped Gouge all the way in a big circle on the radiator! Stupid Fan! Stupid me!

So i Guess it was leaking under pressure. Well its blown sky high now, I took the rad from my Red Car thats waiting for the blown 383 for now. Wee Chalk up another stock component failure.

 

Thats... scary.

Glad you discovered the problem without getting hurt!

 

Oh yeah...aftermarket radiators withstand fanblasts much better.

Damned OEM radiators...musta made'em out of cheeepo material. Imagine the gawl of GM, using a radiator that could be cut up by the fan....



Electric fans? Check the mounts.

Manual fan?..check your motormounts.

 

nah like i said it was my fault. i was just pointing out another stock component failure... not that it failed BECAUSE it was stock, but because it was a stock piece that had failed...

in other news... that wasnt the problem apparently. Im STILL LOSING WATER!!!

ARRG!

Just today it started getting hotter than he!! and i opened the cap and of course... no more water..

WTF!!!!!!!

 

I noticed you always say "water" and not coolant. If you're running straight water, you might want to add some coolant. Take the car for a warm-up spin, then pop the hood to see if you can find any signs of coolant. Coolant is easier to see and has a higher boiling/evaporation point. Be sure to check your intake manifold, front and rear. GM's are known for these leaks.

Good luck.