OT - Need help With Civic Coolant Loss

I forgot to add that this is a '95 Civic EX with the 1.6 engine.

As I told Tegger, I'm taking the car in for a scheduled service this evening, so what I can check now is limited. The temp guage behaves perfectly normal - slowly rises to a bit under 1/4, then stays there even in hot weather. No spikes or drops. The exhaust is clear and has no coolant smell. I will look for bubbles, but this seems to be a very subtle leak wherever it is. Yes, the car was inexpensive - $2850 with a busted headlight that I replaced, and no rust, just a few dings. Mileage is now 146k miles. It was 141k when I bought it last May or June. I'm going to have the dealer do a visual inspection for leaks, including the water pump, and if there is no sign of any, replace the head gasket. I'm worried that the guy at Valvoline* didn't actually add coolant, and there is no leak, but I'm also obviously worried that the head gasket is leaking.

• Valvoline used to be fine. Now they push expensive unnecessary service and products on people, especially women. But I always use the same one, and they know better than to try that on me.

Did they do the pressure test with the engine warm or cold? If cold, then the leak may be on something that tightened up when it cooled off.

Before replacing the head gasket, have all the radiator and coolant lines replaced. At 146K miles they're probably well past their rated lifetime, and that'll be much less expensive than the head gasket.

Gary

They routinely check the box on the receipt that says they checked and set tire pressures. In fact, they told me that since the tires are warm, they never check the pressures routinely. When they get busy, they get sloppy. The tech may have noted the empty reservoir, told someone else to add coolant, and it may not have been added. I am not claiming that this actually occured.

When my (female) housemate called to ask if they do pressure tests, the person who answered told her that the coolant was probably being "burned because it was worn out" and they would be happy to change it. This does not inspire confidence. I have personally witnessed them tell a woman with a 6 year old car with 70k miles on it that it *needs* the "high mileage" oil. Like I said, they used to be ok, but since they added all these services and products, they push them like snake oil salesmen. Not every one of them, but too many.

Thank you, Master Yoda. ;-)

(...)

with respect, you need to take care of this responsibility yourself. "but they said the gun wasn't loaded..." etc.

with an older vehicle such as this, make it a habit to regularly check under the hood. every time you gas up would be ideal. better to "waste" a few seconds doing this than money on expensive repairs that could have been prevented by being more observant.

The "extraneous information" was mostly in response to a direct question. The car is in the shop now, and it was in fact the water pump that was leaking. Thanks to all who replied, regardless of the degree of friendliness.

I see nothing but quoted previous posts above. Did you want to add to the thread?

I had this happen on my 740 years ago. A hose clamp was just loose enough to let the coolant leak out slowly when the engine was hot, I never saw any drips or steam. I finally found it by pressurizing the cooling system to a few psi with the engine cold.

My Civic actually passed the pressure test. Ah, for those old-fashioned exposed water pumps!