I have a 98 2.2 cavalier. I'm the second owner and bought it with 20K miles on it over 14 years ago. It has been the most trouble free car I've ever owned. We don't want to get rid of it due to the great gas mileage and because we know the history on it rather well.

Well it's been losing some coolant over the last month. We thought it was in the oil but turned out the dipstick was just stained and was pulling oil from inside the tube when you pulled it out. So it's been in the shop for 8 days now. They have pressured it cold and warm, did 3 block tests on it and it checked fine on those. They didn't find any sign of water in oil or vice versa.

I had to add coolant on 3 occasions in a months time. All 3 times the low coolant light was going on and off during a drive. First two times only a 1/4 a cup or so of coolant was added. The 3rd time it took nearly a quart. You couldn't see any coolant in the tank at all. Now since the shop has had it, it's acting perfectly normal. Anyone experienced this? The shop foreman is driving it for a few days to see if it will drop coolant. It has us scratching our heads lol

 

"They pressured it cold and warm"

Do you mean with a cooling system pressure tester?

That would have show leaks.

Not sure about your model's water pump, but there might be a weep hole at the bottom. Does it show signs of leaking?


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No white exhaust smoke other than normal condensation in the morning?

 

Yes he said they tried it first thing in the morning and they tried it after it was warmed up and it showed no leaks at all. We park in a graveled driveway so it would have to leak a lot for us to notice it. It's sitting inside their garage now so if it were leaking, it would be easily detected. No it never smokes at all. I just had a motor swap in my Camaro last year for a broken head bolt so I have a little experience with losing coolant. It presented itself differently though.

 

Possibly a bad intake or head gasket leaking water into one of the cylinders and burning the water out through the exhaust. That has happened to me.

 

Thanks for the suggestions etc. It turned out to be leak in water pump. They replaced pump/seal and the thermostat/gasket.