[s-cars] Disappearing antifreeze

[Tom Green]

>
Aw, shucks, Wayne, I wasn't looking for a Cinderella that the shoe fits,
just wanted the shoes the reader was in to pinch a little bit.  : > )

And, I must think much of your frustration stemmed from terminating the
search too soon.  The leaks only appear when you are dressed in coat
and tie and are late for a meeting.  If the trace isn't apparent it  
means it is
on the back side of the hose, etc, or it is still wet.  : > )   It may  
take something
close to a white glove inspection to find some of them, but removing the
uncertainty of a leak and need to carry some coolant that I know I  
will need
to add on a trip are worth the trouble to me.

Even if the driver has accepted this defect and chose a short term  
solution,
it doesn't mean the copilot/navigator/superior driver/ "I told you so"  
advisor
agrees with the strategy.  And, nothing spoils a nice drive more than a
stream of questions about the coolant overtemp/low quantity warning
beep and light that starts on the curves on a long grade to a 12K foot  
pass,
and intermittently goes off when the coolant sloshes on every curve.
: > )   And, since you are leading the pack (actually, leaving behind  
a line
that includes Corvettes and other big engine vehicles) up the grade,  
you are
not inclined to pull over and wait 20 minutes to cool off enough to  
add any
coolant, and then follow a line of RV's.

I'm only guessing about this, but I don't picture real enjoyment there.

I do admit to not believing the trace could be coming from an almost new
Meyle overflow tank crack that was all but invisible for a couple of  
months.
After all, weren't they made of a new, improved plastic compound?  And,
they all couldn't go bad, could they?

I might also go into denial if there was any hint that sweet exhaust  
smell
could be coolant.

Tom

> Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2009 22:53:53 -0800
> From: "Wayne Dohnal" <wd42 at hevanet.com>
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Disappearing antifreeze
> To: <s-car-list at audifans.com>
> Message-ID: <000801c96d70$0b737310$2f01a8c0 at maindesktop>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> 	reply-type=original
>
>> you have to be incompetent not to find the leak source in only  
>> minutes of
>> searching,
>
> Well that makes me feel pretty lowly after having searched for  
> months for a
> few of my many coolant leaks over the years!
>
>> or have a very dirty engine compartment.
>
> And that unfortunately was never the explanation.
>
> I could always see the dried deposits of pink and white gunk where the
> coolant pooled at a low point, but tracing it to the source often  
> eluded me.
> Now that I've had every possible coolant leak I at least know where  
> to be
> looking.
>
> Wayne Dohnal
> 1994 S4