Where is my coolant going?

[JMD VENTURES]

Our new last July 2015 Cornerstone has had a new radiator put in in October. I now put a gallon or so of coolant in every 600 miles or so. I see no leaks anywhere. Where is it going? Going to have it looked at next week. What are some of the potential solutions? Thanks all, Mike.

[Matt D]

What does the oil look like?

Has your radiator cap been checked recently. I found a bad one about six months old on a Tiffin a friend owned.

No puddles anywhere?

That is a lot of coolant disappearing over a short time. It's either leaking somewhere, or getting into the engine and going out the tailpipe. Chances are if it were going into the cylinders (blown head gasket) you would have other far more obvious problems. My bet is a leak somewhere.

Don't forget the coolant lines running to the dash heater.

-Matt

[Tall Tex]

In addition to what Matt said there are also coolant lines going to the Aquahot.

A pressure check should easily determine the source.

Good luck.

[brobox]

Check to see if your Aqua Hot had the engine coolant clamp recall done. If the clamps were not changed, there is an area to check for lost coolant. It will be on the back side of the AH behind the panel.

As Matt said, that is a lot of coolant, If you don't see anything, I would have a radiator pressure test done.

[ButchT]

Originally Posted by JMD VENTURES

Our new last July 2015 Cornerstone has had a new radiator put in in October. I now put a gallon or so of coolant in every 600 miles or so. I see no leaks anywhere. Where is it going? Going to have it looked at next week. What are some of the potential solutions? Thanks all, Mike.

I agree with everyone who suggested the Aqua Hot hoses. That's were I found my leak in my '14 Cornerstone. A simple "nose test" should confirm if the leak is there. I crawled into basement from PS and discovered the culprit! My hose clamps had NOT been replaced as I was second owner and never got the TSB from Aqua Hot so I never knew of the problem.

[Monacoach]

How many gallons so far? Could be the rad wasnt full? Air pockets?

[Jerry0312]

Lots of connections in coolant system for chance of leak. I would start with a radiator pressure test. The test can be run by any Cummins dealer, or any good truck shop. Also, don't forget to pressure test the radiator cap as well.

[JMD VENTURES]

Thanks for all the inputs, I love this forum. All good responses. I just had work done on the aqua hot which may be a concern. Taking it to a Spartan rep this week. Look I g forward to finding the answer. P.S. oil is the right color, one of the first things I checked. Mike

[Cranemec]

Engine burning it in small amounts. I bet it's getting into the combustion through the EGR. We have had the same thing happen on many of our ISL, ISX, ISM engines. Eventually it will throw a EGR code and put them in derate.
Pulling the EGR you would see white crusty deposits on it.

[JMD VENTURES]

I thanks crane, I'll bring that up to the rep. I don't know much about this new technology, hopefully he does. Mike

[Unplanned Tourist]

Originally Posted by Monacoach

How many gallons so far? Could be the rad wasnt full? Air pockets?

Or it could be it is being over filled and the excess is pushed out from expansion. I have seen that happen quite often. Putting a catch bottle on the rad overflow tube will tell the tale.

[Hmf23]

EGR is what I was thinking too, we've had numerous in our Fire fleet all with Cummins ISM motors.

[waterboy10]

We had the EGR issue on our coach as well as a bed radiator.

[Boyd R]

Originally Posted by Unplanned

Or it could be it is being over filled and the excess is pushed out from expansion. I have seen that happen quite often. Putting a catch bottle on the rad overflow tube will tell the tale.

I agree, and it is the first, and simplest thing to check. I have seen that happen several times on Peterbilts and Kenworths I owned.