Rather odd situation here.

I walked out to get in the truck Saturday, drove it on my errand and back home. All was cool (literally and figuratively).

Later in the afternoon, I noticed an uncharacteristic amount of moisture on the driveway. There's always condensed water from the AC drain tube, but there seemed to be way too much moisture for that. I touched what was left and it seemed oily/sticky. It seemed to me to be coolant, but didn't have that characteristic smell.

I've been using a 50/50 water/coolant premixture.

Of course, the first thing I did was check the oil. Nice and clean with just a tinge of darkness. Just like it should look about 1,000 miles into a fresh oil cycle. No milkshakes.

I could see some damp spots on the engine in a few places, but couldn't for the life of me see where it came from. By this time, the engine had cooled down.

Last night, I started the truck and had to wait a few minutes for the wife as we were leaving to have a couple of drinks at some friends house. The truck heated up to a shade above half guage. That's not too warm, by any stretch, but warmer that it usually is. Our destination was only several blocks away, so I decided to watch it as we went. Once some air was moving under the hood, the temp guage dropped a little bit. The trip home barely got the guage to normal operating temp.

This evening, I pulled her into the garage to check the coolant. It was low. I added some and took it for a drive. The guage showed perfectly normal.

I got home and pulled back into the garage and started looking for leaks. I found the normal drainage from the AC again and saw just a couple of drops of something from the weep hole in the bellhousing. Touching revealed the same oily/sticky feel as I found yesterday. And still no coolant smell. Perhaps my nose is jaded to the stink of straight coolant as it's one I know well, but there's little smell at all to what I'm finding.

One thing I have noticed is that my overflow cannister usually has nothing in it - just a few tablespoons of coolant in the bottom - even when the engine is warm. That's about the only clue I can provide.

Can't figure this one out boys and girls. I've had to add coolant from time to time, but don't know how it's getting out. And, I rarely see anything on the driveway.

I've gotten to the point where I feel more comfortable in my diagnostic skills and usually prefer to try and figure stuff out myself, but this one's got me kind of stumped.

Any input would certainly be appreciated.

Ed

No pin-hole leaks in any hoses?

if its dripping around the bellhousing I would take a guess and say maybe a heater hose has a leak that sprays a little out under pressure and it runs down the dirty bellhousing collecting oil as it goes. its always good to check those since I had one blow out on me on a 98+ degree day over a year or two ago. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

It's got to be either the heater hoses or the carb hose. Get that fixed ASAP, most of the time you get no warning <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Good thought, but no carb.

Thanks all for the ideas. I'll go back and check all the hoses again, but, since I've blown them all in the last year, they're all new. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The only one that I've not replaced is the one that goes from radiator neck to overflow jug. That one's liable to be next on the hit list since it's plenty old now.

I should add that most of the wetness I've seen under the hood is toward the front of the engine compartment. I figure maybe the drips I'm seeing coming from the bellhousing might have blown in there when the truck's moving and dripping out when stopped.

Check the overflow from the expansion bottle.

Why so little coolant in the expansion bottle? It should stay between Max and Min marks?

Yes, good idea to re-check all the hoses. Most all the hoses may be new, but a new hose can easily be rubbing against something, wearing a hole in it in no time. About a month ago I had to replace the upper main rad hose in my car even though it was less than a year old. Turned out that I didn't pay close enough attention when I installed it. It was rubbing slightly on a transaxle mount and wore through.

have the same problem before....i just replaced the radiator cap.

Excellent question for which I have no answer. I'm thinking a replacement of the cap (although it's new too) is in order. It's one of those with the lift-up red tab on it - alleged lock/unlock. I've never really liked it. I believe I'll go back with OE.

Ed -

Run your finger under the radiator drain plug and see if it's leaking.... there's an 0-ring seal. Fluid from a leak there drips onto the frame rail and runs toward the rear before dropping to the ground. It took me quite a while to figure it out on my truck..... worth a check.

Frank