LOSING COOLANT BUT DONT KNOW WHERE TO?!

[Shoutin05]

I'm not quite sure, but I've noticed that my coolant has been disappearing but there's no puddles... my exhaust smells sweet, has white smoke and a lot of water comes out of it... All of my fluids look good besides that. What could it be???

[chevymaher]

Head gasket went out.

[JuneauCabbie]

What he said.

[AWDASTROVAN1999]

Check your oil dipstick.. I bet you find some in there

[paintdrying]

intake leak

[chevymaher]

i am doing a V-6 blazer right now.Waiting on parts.It was dumping into the number one cylinder.Steam out the exhaust.Piston was totally clean from water.Surprised me there was no water in the oil at all.Nothing inside the valve covers.Both head gaskets were blown.the dreaded mixture of death-cool and green clogged the radiator and it was overheating.

[Phantom]

Any of the above can be possible , if head gasket leaks you typically find water getting into the oil , shows up on dipstick as like a cloudy milkshake looking stuff , if no water in oil mostly likely intake gasket , the chevy 3.1 is notorious for that , sweet smell white smoke , which is most likely steam , water coming out tailpipe ,, How does the engine perform ,,,if it runs strong and has lots of power it more likely that it is intake gasket leaking , if it has suffered a power loss as in not running as strong as usual more likely head gasket or cracked head , or the beginning sign of a small leak in head gasket , there are shops that can run a test that tests the vapor that comes out of radiator that test if head gasket is bad ,, it cost like 60-100 dollars to test , sometimes it hard to pinpoint the starting point , as the van be driven till it becomes serious and urgent need of repair , so a small leak in intake could become a leak in head gasket , which can lead to a cracked head , the sooner service is performed the more likely the head can be saved

[Chevymankevin]

Any of the above is most likley.

[cookiemonster59]

Had a similar problem with the radiator/sweet/sticky smell of rusty water just this last Wed. (2/08/12) when I drove up to & back from the Gainesville, Florida V.A. Hospital. Coming home, I wasn't 20 miles down FLA S/R# 441 when I began to smell antifreeze, hot rubber, and rusty water, and then the temp gauge started to climb up to 210!! I stopped & checked the radiator fluid, and it was low, so I added water, but it only took 1/2 gal to top it off?? Anyway, I put the radiator cap back on & continued home. The smell kept coming, & going, but I made it home o.k. The next day I checked the radiator fluid again, and this time it took almost a gallon of water to top it off. However, less than a mile away fm. home the temp gauge hit 210o again, so I turned around & drove right back home. A call to a good BY mechanic friend of mine earned me a pressure check @ his house. At 5# of pressure, it was leaking water like a seive (a normal radiator system can run between 12 & 15 psi). He originally thought it was a blown 'freeze-plug', but eventually it turned out to be one of the heater hoses (I think). When he pulled on it, the end normally attached to the engine came right up in his hand. That's when we noticed the hose clamp was @ least 3" up the hose. I've been driving this van 3 yrs., and I certainly haven't messed with those hoses, so that means I had been driving it that way all this time. I make frequenet trips fm. down between Daytona Beach & Orlando, up to Gainesville, & back. That's 200 miles round-trip, so Thank God this didn't happen during one of those trips.

Just a word of advice, if you live in Florida, or anywhere your 'tap' water has a heavy mineral content, I'd advise you to CLEAN & FLUSH your radiator system, and when you refill your radiator, USE NOTHING BUT ANTI-FREEZE & DISTILLED WATER (MIXED 50/50)!!