[exile999]

I knew I had leaking coolant... It was coming from the regular overflow hose and water outlet issue that is all over the place for my 2012 Cruze. I got mechanic to replace both. When I went to pick it up coolant reservoir was empty even though he said he filled it. He said okay probably just an air bubble no big deal (makes sense it happened wwhen I flushed my system a while back) so he put it to the fill line. It did hiss a tiny bit so I figure some of it was engine wasn't cooled completely from his test drive when he filled it. Picture one is one drive same day drove about an hour on the highway. It's taken after I let the engine cool down. This was on either Thursday or Friday (Monday today). Second picture I took at work about 4 hours into my work day. Cool day out don't know if that matters but it shows how much the coolant dropped in the few days. This is with another 3 hours of highway driving. I have serious personal issues with worrying about my car...about worst case scenarios and this continual drop in coolant is really hurting my day to day life right now. Sent an email to the mechanic that installed it to see what he thinks of it. The reservoir isn't perfectly clear on top there are some faded bubbles which look like evaporation could be happening in the reservoir? But it is pressure tight. Looked all over no drippage on pavement no drippage on any components from what I can see....Hoping for some suggestions of what I should think of this as he probably won't get back to me earliest tomorrow.

EDIT: also attached is the top of my reservoir tank which always has these bubbles on the top of it. Not sure if that's normal or not.

 

[obermd]

I'd say your mechanic didn't do the job right. While the Cruze is known for coolant loss, this much loss is a sign the repair job wasn't done properly.

 

[jblackburn]

Pic of the top of the reservoir looks normal.

Possible it has stabilized now; see if it continues to drop below that established level. Sniff around the engine compartment for any whiff of coolant on both a cold and hot engine.

The water pumps are known to leak when cold but *usually* stop when hot.

 

[exile999]

Pic of the top of the reservoir looks normal.

Possible it has stabilized now; see if it continues to drop below that established level. Sniff around the engine compartment for any whiff of coolant on both a cold and hot engine.

The water pumps are known to leak when cold but *usually* stop when hot.

Thank you. I've read somewhere sometimes it can take many days for the air bubbles to come out completely because im assuming he had to empty the system to do the work.... Maybe its just that? And he didn't bleed the system that's obvious with the fact he replaced fluid right after his work.

Also for the other post if it was shotty work I would notice leaks coming from the parts he replaced would I not? Everything is dry around the hose and outlet. And everything else that I assume he took off.

 

[Jwhale07]

Ive been having a mysterious coolant leak for about a year now. First time i brought it in the dealer put the pressure tester on over night, no drop in pressure, no leak right? About 8 months later my surge tank was empy again. Took it in to a different dealer, turbo coolant line leaking. Figured i would tackle it, upon removal found coolant blowing out of cyl 1. At this point i was using a surge tank per week. Took it back to the dealer as they clearly were missing the real issue.