Loss of coolant
 

Think I may have figured out my overheating issue, but I wanted to double with you folks. It's been years since I have had to do anything like this with any vehicle and everything I thought I remembered was from older cars.

This is a '94 LT1 car. Was given to me by my aunt. For about 8 months, after replacing the radiator, hoses, and t-stat the car would lose (and still loses) about a quart of coolant a month. I was just filling from the radiator until full and calling it a day. Actually, the first two times I filled through the rad and then started the car with cap off and waited for water to flow so I could fill again, both time it bubbled over when the car reached running temp. So I stopped doing that, lol.

Today I checked the coolant and it was about a quart low again. I have yet to do anything else with it. I wanted to double check here to make sure I have this all right. The overflow bottle was past the full hot line when the car was cold. I checked the oil and there is no sign of coolant there at all. The car does not smoke. I have yet to find any kind of source for a leak. I looked the engine bay over really well today and found nothing. All hose clamps are tight and hoses look good. I'm not sure if this is a good sign or a bad one.

So if I follow the procedure outlined in the how to section on bleeding, do you think I will be ok or do I have a problem somewhere else? I tried to add as much info as I could think of, please let me know if you need anymore.

Have a good one and thanks!

bleeding is definitely an important thing with these cars. ive been through every headache dealing with the coolant with these cars. or at least i hope by now. although bleeding helps, trapped air wouldnt really cause you to lose coolant. i looked my engine bay over real well and didnt find anything until i was working under it one day. came across a leak i would have never guessed. if you havent looked at this area yet, do yourself a favor. jack up the car and look right above the steering rack behind the crank pulley. (well actually, just look below the engine in general. im not sure where it would leak on the lt1. i have a v6.) either way, the problem could still be the same. i have this same problem currently and just recently discovered that the timing chain gasket is the culprit.
and if im not mistaken, when craby gets wind of this, he will have the answer for you. he is the google for camaro parts and problems on here.

Sounds like your overfilling it.

he probably is for the same reason i was. the temp goes up too high and the heat turns cold. check the rad and its empty from slowly leaking out everything. so fill it back up, pump it through, and hope everything is ok. then it blows up under the hood randomly. but still leaks. i was dumbfounded for a while. but now that i know its the timing chain gasket, i just fill the radiator while the engine is off. then when you run it, it doesnt blow up on you. get a siphon tool too. it will save a lot of coolant. take some from your reservoir since that is probably over its limit anyhow. Instead of blowing it out, might as well reuse it.

Thanks 9434V6, I will get under it tomorrow and take a better look. I just eyeballed and checked the hoses today since there was no visible drip anywhere.

not a problem. like i said, i dont know these engines well. craby knows everything. but if you keep me updated, ill help as i can.

Sorry, no update yet, I have all of next off of school, so will diving it probably on Sunday.

You should borrow a pressure tester and check to see if the system will hold pressure. The tester can be borrowed from most chain type parts stores and youtube has videos on how to use it. By all means climb under the car and check the weep hole on the water pump. You are looking for staining around the hole. Catching a water pump before it completely fails can save you an opti. You should check the weep hole every time you change the oil.

When your car heats up it is supose to push out 1-2 quarts of coolant into the overflow. Then when it cools down it should suck it back in from the overflow. If you system fails to draw the coolant back in due to a bad cap or a overflow hose that is cracked or sucks closed then your radiator will always be a quart or so low. I had to replace the hose in my 96 because it was sucking closed instead of allowing the coolant to return.

BTW: never run your car up to full operating temp with the cap off. The system needs pressure so the coolant around the heads does not boil and create air pockets. This can damage the motor. Mostly the head gasket.

maybe thats what i need. i know i need the timing chain gasket as well since i can see the leak. but i wouldnt be surprised it the hose is bad too. they never last long as ive noticed.

Thank you for the info. I will be out there this weekend to check things out. I should have done my research before trying to do anything at all. The car is parked for now.