Coolant top off
 

I did my coolant tubes in my 05 CTT about a year ago and have gone about 20K miles since. Yesterday, I got a check coolant level warning. This morning, I topped off about 1/3 gallon of coolant. Does this sound right?

Did you replace the expansion tank as well? you might have a small leak. At a minimum I would replace the cap and see if this changes anything. The only reason I say this is my expansion tank went boom and have not had any problems since changing it all out.

I did not change the expansion tank. Was yours leaking at the bottom or on top?

It was leaking out of the area near the firewall where the 2 pieces of the tanks are fused together. There was excess pressure/heat cycles caused the 2 pieces to separate.

It gave me a big scare because it was snowing like crazy and no one can drive in the snow in the south. So I had to creap all the way home, with the mind set of "Well what ever happens, happens, its under warranty"

When you get a good leak it will start to puddle up behind the passenger front tire. But if this is what your problem is it is not a hard fix and can be done by yourself for about $100. Hope this helps out.

I haven't seen a drop of coolant since I did the tubes. That's what concerns me.

If you can't find any leaks I wouldn't worry about it unless it gives you a low coolant light again. Just keep some extra in the car for peace of mind.

Coolant has to be going somewhere. My last truck had a leak in the coolant system. Never dripped a drop but you could tell it was running down the side of the block. The coolant will leave signs of where it is going. But if you are not having any overheating issues just carry some extra porsche 50/50.

Hi. This is a bit of a thread resurrection but would you happen to have photos of the expansion tank and where you were showing signs of the leak. I did the coolant pipe upgrade about a year ago (about the same time frame as the OP) and just got the same coolant level low yesterday. Topped it off with a little more than a liter of Porsche 50/50. It might be worth a look into for me..

Thanks in advance.

I do not have any photos. But it split where the two halves meet. And I have since thrown away the damaged expansion tank. It popped about 1 hour into a 4 hour ride home in the snow. The same snow as my profile picture. It's not a bad job to replace just time consuming.

It will run down the inner fender on the passenger side when it's up to operating temperature. If you have a leak there.

Thanks for the quick reply! I will check this out and report what I find.

For lack of a better diagnostic term it will look like its peeing but you wont be able to find the source with out removal of the expansion tank.

I just replaced a leaky coolant expansion tank yesterday. Aside from the puddle on the ground near the passenger tire, I was able to see the leak on just below the brake booster vacuum pump as it ran down underneath the heat shield of the inner fender.

You shouldn't "use" coolant. So, unless you didn't get it filled fully last year after the coolant pipes were done then there's a leak. Keep in mind that it takes a few heat cycles for the coolant level to normalize after it has been filled.

Thanks! This is good to know. I will check this out this week. I only checked the coolant level once after I filled it right after I did the cooling pipe replacement and this was only after one heat cycle. So it possibly wasn't filled completely all this time. I will still check out all the areas that have been mentioned though.

Thanks again