Losing coolant

1999 Volvo S70, 150,000 miles

The car has been losing about a quart of coolant every week for about two months now.



I see drops under the passenger side door but cannot find any leaks in the engine compartment!



Where might the coolant be coming from?

If the drops under the passenger side are coolant, it could be coming from a leaking heater core. There is a drain hose for the HVAC system, usually located low on the passenger side of the firewall. See if the drops are coming from the drain hose.

If the heater core is leaking you should be smelling antifreeze fumes inside the car.

If the drops under the car are water, and not coolant, then the coolant may be going through the engine and out the tailpipe. This would lead me to suspect, and test for, a bad head gasket.

It’s definitely coolant but I will need to jack the car up to find that drain hose because it wasn’t visible on my hands and knees.

Thanx for the help!

By the way, shouldn’t the carpet in the passenger compartment be wet if it’s the heater core? 'cause the carpet is absolutely dry…

I’ll let you know what I find or what my expensive mechanic claims.

I actually found an honest mechanic (thanx to Car Talk’s mechanic files) and problem was a small crack in the bottom of expansion tank. Fortunately I was able to replace the tank myself and everything is wonderful, again.

Thanx for the help!

Thanks for the follow up. While I didn;t assist in this one, the feedback is always nice. Glad everything is okay.