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having to refill coolant daily?

I have a 2000 Nissan altima. The coolant drained completely out--I have to fill up my car with coolant every day before I leave for work. By the time I get home, the reservoir is almost empty. I can't see ANY leaks under my car, and on top of that one of my radiator fans isn't working. What would be possible causes?

12 Answers

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  • 6 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the coolant is going somewhere, and if it isn't leaking, it is being consumed by the engine. A bad head gasket or intake manifold gasket sucking water into the engine. My guess is the head gasket. There are several tests that can be done to determine this, one being a self test kit sold at auto parts stores.

    If you can pull the spark plugs, a tell sign of coolant coming into a combustion chamber is a clean top on the piston. The water will cause the black carbon to burn off the top.

    You may never see milky oil. Many times with minor gasket leaks, a small bit of water is drawn in on the intake stroke, and all the coolant is expelled during the exhaust stroke.

  • Anonymous
    6 years ago

    Start by checking your oil. I know this sounds counter-intuitive because you are looking for a coolant leak but if there is an internal leak the coolant may be escaping where you can't see it. Does the oil look like black molasses or honey? Whew! Good news! If it looks like a mocha latte from Starbucks take a deep breath and say Uh Oh. This means you may have an internal leak which can get costly to repair. Also keep in mind that your leak, because of the high engine temperatures, could be in the form of steam. This may indicate a minor leak somewhere that is much much harder to spot but cheaper to repair in general. Something called a pressure test, where your cooling system is put under pressure, is cheap and will quickly reveal the source. As for the fan it needs to be tested by connecting it directly to power to see if it is dead. $60-$80 for both fans on the interwebs. Labor to have them changed will run you double or a bit more if you shop carefully. Heres hoping you have a simple fix.

  • Anonymous
    6 years ago

    Very bad news for you my friend, If your coolant is missing, and you cannot find any leaks, then the only other place where it could disappear is inside the engine, due to a bad head gasket. Since you said your radiator fan are not working, I assume you have overheating problems which in the long term (or short term if it overheated to the point of having the cooling light turn on) would cause a head gasket failure. Check the oil cap, if you see white/creamy foam, it might be a sign of a bad head gasket. Try to have a compression test done too. If I were you though, I'll check for leaks one last time just to make sure.

  • Alamoe
    Lv 4
    6 years ago

    You need to have your cooling system pressure tested QUICKLY! Some coolant leaks only happen under pressure created by a warm engine and will not leave a telltale puddle in the driveway. Losing coolant and a non functioning radiator fan is a recipe for an engine melt down, if it hasn't happened already and your coolant is going out the tail pipe as steam.

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  • 6 years ago

    REPAIR the faulty COOLING FAN as your coolant is BOILING OVER with high temp through a DRAIN TUBE! Use ONLY genuine factory coolant and NOT from auto parts store! DO NOT DRIVE THIS CAR until you repair fan issues! CHECK FAN RELAY and FUSE and try to SPIN the electric fan by hand, fully cooled down, to see if it is BURNED OUT or STUCK! If your head warps you will be VERY UNHAPPY with the repair bills incurred! DRIVE OVER an OIL CHANGE PIT where they can look for LEAKS and other issues here! DO NOT WASTE TIME over this thing! GOOD LUCK!!

  • 6 years ago

    Squeeze in a dozen of large eggs and a dozen packages of pepper . That should slow the internal leak down a bit . Do this when the cars on and full of coolant and feed the car eggs and pepper .

    Ur looking at a $1200 repair bill . Eggs and pepper is cheaper .

  • ?
    Lv 7
    6 years ago

    Nissan Altima. Both names are proper names and must be capitalized. Please do so. As to the car, in your brain it makes sense to grab the smartphone to text compared to going by an auto repair shop? Really? Well, if that is the case I really I am lost as to what possibly inform you as to this vehicle. All I know is that for any car issues I go to my mechanic. I suggest you do the same. Guessing is not recommended and, besides, since you are not a mechanic, what purpose does it serve for you to ask for guesses online?

  • the overflow tank is not a huge pat of the cooling system. IF the radiator is low, have the water pump looked at along with the heater core. both of those will drain a system with little sign aside from a wet spot that you need to look for.

  • 4 years ago

    1

  • 6 years ago

    if it's not a rusted through freeze plug it might be a failed heater matrix look under the front carpets for all the lost fluid

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