Hey Folks - I have a very strange coolant loss situation. First off this truck is new to me - about 1.5 months ownership it's a 2012 with 109k miles. I have records from two Lex dealers since new. Only coolant related work was a radiator swap in 2019. No record of replacing the water pump.
I was taking a trip to Houston from DFW and checked all fluids and noticed that the expansion tank was empty. I checked for leaks and having found none, i added coolant to the appropriate level and headed to Houston. I kept an eye on the level driving down there and back. No movement except for the heat expansion but always back to the level mark I originally filled it to. So I thought no big deal and went on my merry way driving around Dallas with some highway and some bumper to bumper traffic (about 2 weeks). This weekend I went down to Houston again and i checked all fluid levels and lo and behold, my coolant tank was empty. I filled it to the proper level again (engine was warm) and checked it in the morning before the trip. It went down a little since it cooled and drew fluid from the tank. With great trepidation I took the truck to Houston and checked every time I filled up and morning and night. The level did not move (except for the normal expansion/contraction based on engine temp.
This is driving me crazy. How can you have an intermittent leak? I checked the oil level and it is fine, I checked the water pump as well as I can and did not see any leak but to be fair I have not used a mirror for a close look. I know about the prone leak under the intake manifold but no way I can check that. I do not have any leaks under the truck either. There is no black soot in the expansion tank either. But the craziest thing is the intermittent nature of the leak. If there is a leak would it not always leak (slow or fast)?
Anyone have any ideas what else I can check? I have an appointment with the dealer on Friday to perform a pressure test but it's gonna cost me about $160 (which they say is more than just pressure test).
Thanks!
I was taking a trip to Houston from DFW and checked all fluids and noticed that the expansion tank was empty. I checked for leaks and having found none, i added coolant to the appropriate level and headed to Houston. I kept an eye on the level driving down there and back. No movement except for the heat expansion but always back to the level mark I originally filled it to. So I thought no big deal and went on my merry way driving around Dallas with some highway and some bumper to bumper traffic (about 2 weeks). This weekend I went down to Houston again and i checked all fluid levels and lo and behold, my coolant tank was empty. I filled it to the proper level again (engine was warm) and checked it in the morning before the trip. It went down a little since it cooled and drew fluid from the tank. With great trepidation I took the truck to Houston and checked every time I filled up and morning and night. The level did not move (except for the normal expansion/contraction based on engine temp.
This is driving me crazy. How can you have an intermittent leak? I checked the oil level and it is fine, I checked the water pump as well as I can and did not see any leak but to be fair I have not used a mirror for a close look. I know about the prone leak under the intake manifold but no way I can check that. I do not have any leaks under the truck either. There is no black soot in the expansion tank either. But the craziest thing is the intermittent nature of the leak. If there is a leak would it not always leak (slow or fast)?
Anyone have any ideas what else I can check? I have an appointment with the dealer on Friday to perform a pressure test but it's gonna cost me about $160 (which they say is more than just pressure test).
Thanks!