Coolant mysteriously disappeared
 

Hey Ziners, I have a concerning matter that I can't seem to figure out.

Info on the car: 2000 TL with 201,400 miles on the clock. Sitting since August.

While I'm away at University, I have my TL stored in my garage. It hasn't been driven since August. When I put it away, I checked all fluids, everything was fine.

I came home today, and checked everything. I was going to run it and drive it around the block, but the overflow bottle is empty, and the radiator doesn't seem to have anything in it.

My first instinct was to re-check the oil to see if it had coolant. It looks clean- it didn't look like chocolate milk.

There is no puddle, no anything. The car had coolant, but where could it have gone? None in the oil. I started the car and ran it for 15 seconds, so it wasn't in the cylinders. What do I do?

I would look at the oil real well again after you ran the engine a bit, that might have got the water stirred up, otherwise, without the engine running for so long, the oil would been floating on top of the water. And it is unlikely all or even most of the coolant could have gone into the oil system without overflowing somewhere.

I would fill/top off the radiator and see just how much fluid it takes to bring it back to correct level. Make sure your heater valve is turned all the way open (hot). Then look for leaks. If none seen, start the car & run and look for leaks, recheck oil, etc.

First thing i would do is look at the ground for any staining or water stain type of spots. If none, then i would drain the oil BEFORE driving or starting the engine just to make sure its not in there unless you can be certain that there is none on the dipstick or the level isnt higher than it should be. The oil wont be milky from it draining into it. The motor needs to be running and mixing the 2 together to become that way.

Hey Yikes, nothing really actually disappears......it's only an illusion !

Look for any clues for an external leak. If you parked the car a few months ago and everything was in good working order at that time, than consider having the coolant system pressure checked. These guys gave you the lowdown about [I]"coolant in the oil"[I] and the potential of a blown head gasket, but take a step back in time....as this had to be happening prior to parking the car !

Any other overheating situation or low coolant or just plain negligence ?

punk kids drained radiator valve while it was parked?
stranded motorist did same when they needed coolant?

res bottle cap--hose attached firmly?
rad cap- seal and spring are in good condition?
rad seams- signs of white or green?

Thanks to everyone who responded.

The only thing I noticed is that it did warm up quickly. The last thing I did before I put it in the garage was I seafoamed it. I took the plates off of I couldn't give it a "spirited drive," just had to rev it up in the driveway. I did notice a lot of water blow out of the exhaust, I just figured it was just water built up in the muffler. It wasn't green or anything, just water.


The garage was locked most of the time, so it's highly unlikely that it was stolen. I checked the radiator hoses and caps, everything seems to be there. The top of the cap was damp, but it was the color of coolant, not as if moisture got in there.

I couldn't find any external leaks, but I can't 100% rule out that the coolant didn't run past a bad head gasket and into the oil pan. I only ran the car for about 15 seconds, and rechecked the oil, and it didn't look milky or odd, but then again that may not have been enough time to mix things up. I'll have to drain the oil from it, refill the coolant system and bleed it. I'll let you know of the results.

seafoam for storage is fog it --so it dies and no drive
that coats important parts
revving in driveway tends to foul plugs but not blow head gaskets etc

oil level--is it suddenly above full??? fuller than you left it?

locked most of the time= allows an opening for someone desperate enough--to remove your coolant and install in their ride! would not be the first time

when you fill it with water/coolant mix now- what does it do
leak out? runs ok?
parts store can test rad cap for you

make sure heater is on full hot and cabin fan running to get all the air bubbles out
while following the owner book method for burping system

I suppose the valve on the cap could be bad, the cap was on with the writing facing the wrong way, so it is possible that it was tampered with in the past.

Update: before I left back for school I filled and bled the system. Everything seems to be okay now, I didn't notice any leaks. I'll have to check back in 18 days when I come home for winter break.

As for the oil level, it didn't seem higher than I remember; certainly not enough to justify almost 100% of the radiator and overflow to run into the oil pan.

I don't mind as much if the plugs get fouled, I planned on replacing them in the spring anyway. Sometimes during idle or low RPM cruising, the motor would get a bit shakey, but the RPMs remained steady. I suspect the plugs are probably old and worn out.

as well as clogged egr and dirty iacv,,,do those when you get home

rad cap can face either way,,,someone ckd or replaced coolant at some point- as you suspect
was the wp replaced with tbelt at 105?