2010 toyota matrix 177000 miles. Combustion leak test. Fluid stays blue, top air bubbles turn yellow
Is this a blown head gasket? No oil or coolant mixing. Coolant smell in car. Loses small amount of coolant. Drives 200 miles before adding a bit
If you suspect you may be burning coolant pull the spark plugs and see if one or more look steam-cleaned.
Coolant smell in the car and losing coolant can add up to a leaking heater core. However if you have to add coolant that frequently I would expect to see some evidence of coolant dripping in the car.
@chucktobias the radiator has some corrosion where the cap sits on top of the rim. It looks like white corrosion ate some of the plastic, a small amount. Im.gwtring 2 different opinions from different mechanics. Its maddening
@chucktobias could need a new radiator cap?!
Wouldn't hurt to replace it.
@chucktobias i already replaced the cap, it's the corrosion inside radiator rim that the cap.sits on. But one mechanic said yellow at the top means combustion gases rise up.
Sounds like you do have an issue if the leak test is showing yellowing also depends on the amount of time you do the test, the longer the better(I usually perform the test from cold start until operating temp). You could have a warped head, cracked head, and or head gasket is starting to fail. Have you looked at your weep hole on the water pump housing? I would also verify that your heater core underneath your dash isn’t leaking causing your smell inside the cab?
@chaseg no wetness inside, but I smell coolant through the vents with ac on. Once even.my shirt smelled of coolant.
Have you tried a UV dye kit ? Might get lucky and find the leek if that’s what it is. Maybe try googling it sometimes you can get lucky on car forums where someone has had this same issue or buy a chiltons/haynes and see if they have a diagnosis diagram you can follow and see where the coolant lines are close to your AC inlet vents …. Or pressure test your coolant system those 2 kits are affordable if you buy them off EBay/amazon if it doesn’t hold pressure then that’s a good start to locate possible issues
@chaseg it holds pressure. It only drops coolant when driving.
Yea sorry man sounds like a head gasket/head issue but might try cleaning that radiator I would get a brass brush and stick a rag inside the radiator cap hole(so nothing falls inside) an try to brush away the deposits messing with your cap vinegar works well especially when it’s hot, just enough to make that cap sit like it’s supposed to. If you have a drain plug on your radiator I’d check that while the car is running at operating temp to see if that’s got a slight leek mine did before and I never saw any leaks on the floor but noticed it one day very small but enough to have to add coolant after a while. Have you serviced your cooling system recently in any way ?? Before you noticed the coolant disappearing??